Aftermath (Contrecoup)
by Saturne
Summary: After the destruction of A city, comes the time for reconstruction. Everything is back to normal, but Genos notices a subtle change in Saitama. Something is wrong. And he's going to fix it. [Pre-slash - Genosai]
1. Chapter 1

**Summary :** After the destruction of A city, comes the time for reconstruction. Everything is back to normal, but Genos notices a subtle change in Saitama. Something is wrong. And he's going to fix it.

 **Author's note :** This is an attempt at translating my own fic from french to english. So be warned, I'm not fluent and I tried my best. If you notice any typo or weird stuff, please tell me. If you speak french, I strongly advise you to read it in french, 'cause I simplified a lot of things in order to translate it.

Enjoy!

[Edit june 16th 2016: I'd like to thank all the kind and helpful readers who helped me fix the typos and badly translated sentences! Thank you so much!]

 **oOo**

 **Aftermath (Contrecoup)**

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 _« … survivors are still being rescued from the rubbles of A city as our special live reporter is shooting those terrible images… »_

 _« Oh my god, this is awful! Look, the city has been completely wiped off the map! It looks like a post-apocalyptic landscape! »_

 _« Only the Hero Association's QG and the alien spaceship are still in one piece. We can be proud to live in the only country in the world where the heroes' activity has been institutionalized and funded by the citizens' taxes. Imagine what a disaster it would have been for our planet without the Association! »_

 _« Should we fear more alien attacks like this in the future? And would the Hero Association be able to face them all? »_

 _« That's what our special guest is going to tell us! Please welcome Amai Mask on set! »_

 _« Kyaaaah! He is here? I'm his biggest fan! »_

Soft clouds lazily drifted in the blue sky. Wings flapping, a sparrow perched on the rack of drying clothes in the balcony, glanced curiously on the inside by the half open door-window, then flew away with feather rustling. A warm breeze rippled the thin curtain as a thunder of applause rose up from the television.

"Sorry again." Saitama apologized flatly.

"You don't have to apologize, sensei. You were just trying to help me. I have got all the spare parts I need for this kind of situation. This is an easy repair."

"Yeah, but still…"

Sitting down on the floor, Saitama was still holding the cyborg's ripped off arm like he'd been since they left the devastated A city to come home walking. And he was using it now to scratch his bald head with a metallic rattling.

"Could you give me the screwdriver, Saitama-sensei?" Genos asked, squinting at his own shoulder he was trying his best to fix up with his only hand.

Resting his elbows on the table, Saitama started digging in the pile of spare parts, locknuts and cables until he found the screwdriver. Genos thanked him with a nod, and tried to straighten the piece of warped iron. In his golden eyes, a function screen indicated how to fix the problem – a program Kuseno added so Genos could handle small repairs by himself. But with this angle and only one good arm, it was hard to work efficiently. Under Saitama's curious stare, he frowned when he failed, the screwdriver slipping on the metal.

A cold and hard touch on his cheek made him look up.

"Need a hand, Genos?"

Saitama was leaning with his elbows on the table, chin settled on his palm, and he was poking him with the mechanical arm – he manually folded down fingers so only the index one would point out.

Genos lowered down his screwdriver, thoughtful.

"In order to put my arm back on, I have to reconnect the wires and slot it inside those notches. Doctor Kuseno made them in a very solid metal, resistant to extreme temperatures, to increase my strength and defense. It is nearly impossible to bend or destroy that metal alloy."

"Oh. Cool."

"But the notches have been twisted by sensei's amazing strength and I can't straighten them back."

"Ah ok, it's only that."

Without hesitation, Saitama reached across the table and used his little finger to straighten the metal notches, so easily and casually, it looked like the metal was made of warabimochi.

He shouldn't still be surprised by Saitama's strength after months of studying him and living with him, but Genos couldn't help gasping, admiration shining in his eyes.

"You truly are amazing, Saitama-sensei…" he whispered with a smile, proud to be the disciple of a man this powerful.

Always so modest, Saitama shrugged away the compliment and gave him the metallic arm so he could put it back on. Genos made a flame burst out of his palm and used it to re-solder the wires, and then slotted the member at its rightful place with a clicking sound. He moved his fingers and stared at them intently, physical sensations rushing back to his brain.

A hint of Saitama's warmth remained in his elbow and metallic phalanxes, and Genos couldn't help analyzing with fascination the contrast of temperature.

"Wow…" deadpanned Saitama. "Is that dude serious over there."

Genos looked up at his teacher. Saitama wasn't looking at him anymore, he was staring at the television's screen with a raised eyebrow and a blank face. Just like Genos, he hadn't changed clothes yet since they came home, he was still wearing his hero suit. The cape was ripped off, the yellow fabric worn out and torn, and his skull lost its mirror shine because of dirt and dust covering it.

The cyborg squinted and looked at the tv program Saitama was watching. On screen was Amai Mask flipping his hair away from his symmetrical face, looking uppity and contemptuous.

 _« … incompetence of the S class heroes. It's their job to prevent this kind of threat and avoid any civil harm. A city is still counting its dead and the number of victims is alarming, but the media are praising those who couldn't avoid this disaster because of their weakness and negligence. I think it's pathetic, all that glorification of mediocrity. »_

The audience was sighing dreamingly at each and every word that came out of his mouth, and the tv newscaster looked embarrassed, sweat dripping from his forehead.

 _« Certainly, Amai Mask, you are right of course, but… don't you agree that without their intervention, there would have been way more victims, and maybe the planet would have been invaded or destroyed? »_

 _« Let me remind you that the S class heroes are handsomely payed by taxes to save those civilians. Without them, they would be unemployed like parasites. Should I reveal how scandalously expensive is their cost to society, even if some of them do nothing to earn it, combine high absenteeism rate and lack of professionalism? We haven't seen Blast intervene or protect civilians for almost a year! S class heroes are not subject to performance quotas and have no obligation to prove themselves like the A, B and C classes have to. In my opinion, those overpaid slackers don't deserve the public's admiration. If it was up to me, I would subject them to supervision and quotas, and I would raise the difficulty of the entrance exam. The Hero Association is losing its standing and is becoming a parody of itself, it's a disgrace. »_

"Who the fuck does that guy think he is?" Saitama mumbled.

The female newscaster – who was blushing hard – fluttered her eyelashes with a lovestruck smile.

 _« Is this why you remain class A n°1 even though you could easily be on top of the S class? You are so strong and handsome! »_

Amai Mask granted her a charming smile and she nearly passed out.

 _«_ _I don't need an outrageous salary or scandalous benefits to do my job_ _._ _I have no desire to lose my shine through contact with those good-for-nothing_ _._ _I want to stay close to my fans, make them happy, keep them safe and fight evil in all shapes_ _._ _This is my_ _dearest_ _wish_ _._ _»_

A burst of applause shook the tv set, with female hysterical screaming. Amai Mask looked detached and was checking his manicure with dignity, ignoring the fans holding signs with hearts and throwing their underwear at him. But Genos was focused on Saitama who looked upset like he couldn't believe it.

"He did nothing but he's got fans, and I don't? That's unfair!"

"Don't pay attention!" Genos uttered fiercely. "He is nothing compared to you, Saitama-sensei. You saved this planet, and even if no one knows about it, _I_ do and I'll never forget it! If it wasn't for you, we would all have been doomed!"

Saitama looked unexcitedly at him, face blank. He scratched his head and pouted.

"I dunno, it wasn't such a big deal. And it's kinda my fault, after all. It took me so long to take down the spaceship and the alien boss. I got lost in the corridors, for one thing, and then when I found their boss… for once there was some challenge in a fight. I dragged it out for a bit so it wouldn't be over right away. And even like that, I got bored and it was over way too fast."

Sitting in seiza position, back straight, Genos squinted while carefully putting away the spare parts littering the table.

"You said he was strong, and even _the toughest dude ever_ , quoting your own words…"

"Yeah. He was. I never fought someone this strong in my whole life. He could even have destroyed the entire planet in one second, poof, just like that. It's been more than a year since the last time I had a fight not entirely boring."

On the tv screen, the newscaster was speculating on the future of A city, the impact on its real-estate and stock-market compared to what happened with Z city, destroyed five years ago and never rebuilt. Saitama turned his head away, looking up at the sky veiled by the white curtain rippling with the warm breeze.

"But I dunno…" Saitama sighed with a strangely distant voice. "I'm kinda disappointed, I guess."

Genos' hands stopped moving, and he stared intently at the back of his teacher's bald head.

"… Disappointed? What do you mean, sensei?"

Saitama kept quiet for a moment, and Genos held his breath, feeling suddenly uneasy and anxious. Even if he couldn't see more than his back, there was something dark and heavy in Saitama's posture, like a tension radiating from the back of his neck. But the cyborg couldn't quite grasp what that was.

And then Saitama's shoulders sagged and he turned back with an annoyed pout – he looked normal again, like nothing happened. Maybe Genos had just been imagining things.

"That alien jerk fucked up my suit," the hero complained while pinching between his thumb and index finger what was left of his cape. "And you know how much I'm fond of it, I told you what it means to me."

"I could try to sew it back if you want, sensei."

"The fabric was special, fireproof and nearly impossible to tear, so it won't be the same if you use another one to replace the cape."

"What do you intend to do, then?"

Genos had to close his fists to refrain from suggesting once again – in vain – to sew him a different hero suit style. Sighing, Saitama reached for his collarbones and zipped down his suit.

"I dunno." he said wiggling to take off the sleeves without tearing the holes even more. "First, I'm gonna take a nice bath. I got gravel and dust everywhere."

It took less than a millisecond for Genos to jump on his feet.

"I'm going to run the bath, Saitama-sensei!"

"Eh? Thanks Genos, but you know, I can do it myse-"

Genos didn't hear the end of the sentence, he was already dashing towards the bathroom in a cloud of smoke. His training and Kuseno's upgrades were efficient, judging by the speed used to turn the faucet and kneel to bend above the bathtub. Steam rose up in thick fog around the focused cyborg who was controlling the temperature with the tip of his fingers. With his other hand, he carefully put the rubber duck on the water that was beginning to fill up the tub – according to his meticulous observations before he even started living here officially, he noticed that Saitama never took a bath without it floating with him. The yellow duck nodded and slowly turned on itself until its beak poked his metallic fingers. Genos stared down at it, then pushed it so it would sail away, thinking about his sensei's suit problem.

Genos didn't have that kind of problem himself since he didn't wear a hero suit, just like the other S rank heroes. But this unitard and cape basic outfit seemed very precious to sensei – he even refused adamantly all the new suits ideas Genos designed. He showed him more than thirty sketches among the hundreds he drew aiming to highlight his body and strength, but he got turned down enough to figure out Saitama was getting annoyed about it.

Indeed, Saitama-sensei proudly wore his cheap hero suit and his bald head, and never tried to hide it or improve his looks. That surely was a sign of wisdom Genos had yet to achieve. He still had so much to learn from sensei.

When the water temperature became optimal and the bathtub filled just enough – if his calculations were correct – to allow Saitama's body to enter without overflowing, Genos stopped the water and came back to the living room.

He paused and stared. His teacher had his back to him and was naked, holding his suit to inspect it from every angle. In the background, on the television, fans were fawning over Amai Mask singing a sappy love song under the spotlight. Lyrics were scrolling on screen so viewers could sing along with him. But Genos stayed focused on Saitama's naked back as the man poked a finger through a hole in the yellow fabric. His shoulders sagged sadly.

"Ah… it's really fucked up…" he sighed hanging it up on the hook fixed to the wall.

"Sensei."

"Mh?"

"The bath is ready."

"Ah, thanks, Genos."

Saitama turned back shamelessly and walked past him, their shoulders brushing in the way. Sensei had no issue with his naked body, as the cyborg already wrote down in this notebooks n°1, 22, 187, 301, 745, 883, 1032 (pages 5 to 26), 1444, 1789, 2108, 2891 and 3420. An idea crossed his mind when Saitama opened the bathroom door.

"This tailor you told me about," he said thoughtfully. "The one who made your suit…"

"Yeah, what about him?"

Hand on the door handle, Saitama was looking at him with his usual blank face.

"Do you think he could make you another one, using the same special fabric?"

"Oh. Hm… Dunno. Last time I saw him more than two years ago, he said something about closing down his shop and retiring. I don't even know if he still lives over there."

"Why not see for ourselves? I don't think the Association will call us for a few days. I'll pay whatever it takes to persuade him to sew back your suit."

"I thought you didn't like my suit," Saitama smiled incredulously. "But yeah, that's a good idea. I got nothing else to do anyway and it'd be nice to see the old man again."

Saitama disappeared in the bathroom, and Genos pulled out his notebook n°3784 to finally take the time to write down his sensei's heroic feats in today's fight against the alien invaders.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note :** This chapter is the longest one in the fic, so it took me quite a while to translate it all. And damn, translating is hard. I SWEAR IT'S SO MUCH BETTER IN FRENCH.

Thank you CloudFactory for beta-reading it, and thank you all for reading! And please tell me if you notice something weird, I'm trying to improve my english… ^^

 **oOo**

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The sunset cast dark, elongated shadows to the ground. The sound of footsteps echoed through the desert street, startling a stray cat perched on a pile of garbage. It hissed and ran away.

Genos' golden eyes peered around attentively. This area was located just at the limit between Z city and D city. It wasn't that far from their apartment. By foot, it took them only half an hour to come here.

The metal shutters of the shops were all lowered, and they didn't cross a soul on the way except for a homeless man sleeping with a piece of cardboard as a blanket.

"So this is where you've been living before you moved to Z city…" Genos stated thoughtfully as they walked near a knocked over fire hydrant spurting out a geyser of water.

Ripped off electric wires dangled in the air and belched out a shower of sparks from time to time.

"Ah, yeah…" Saitama said looking around. "Back then it was a nice area with lots of great discount stores. It was starting to deteriorate when I left, but I never thought it could become that bad. Everything's destroyed and it looks like there's no one left."

They slowed down near a collapsed building. Hands plunged in his jean's pockets, Saitama stared at the ruins with his neutral face. Was he feeling nostalgic? Bitter? Sad? Bored? Or just mildly curious? Genos had no idea.

At Saitama's wrist was hanging the plastic bag containing his torn suit, and the setting sun's shimmering colors were being reflected by his bald skull.

"Here was the public bath I used to spend a lot of time in 'cause my landlady cut off the water in my apartment whenever I was late for paying the rent. The bath's manager was fond of me after I kicked a monster out of the water, he even sometimes gave me rice and vegetables."

Genos studied the rubbles, eyes narrowed.

"The outskirts of D city suffered a lot of damage when you destroyed the meteorite." Genos explained very tactfully. "Local people probably fled from danger. It would explain why there is no one in the streets."

"Shit, that sucks." Saitama winced. "Maybe the old man took off, too."

"Did he live in this street?"

Saitama nodded and gestured towards a building not so far away. They moved forward and came to a halt in front of the store. The metal shutter was half wrecked like a car crashed into it. A sheet of paper was taped there to announce the permanent closure.

"Ah, should've guessed." Saitama let out a disappointed sigh. "Last time I saw him, he told me he wanted to retire."

Genos noticed that the roof and part of the housefront at the first floor were destroyed. A canvas sheet veiled the inside and swished in the breeze.

"There's nothing else we can do, let's go home." Saitama said turning on his heels. "We'll use an ordinary fabric to remake the cape. Come on Genos, we'll stop on the way to that fishstore that makes a special offer on octopus. We can make takoyaki for diner tonight, ok?"

"Wait, sensei."

Puzzled, Saitama stopped and looked down at the cyborg's hand resting on his shoulder.

"I feel a presence inside," Genos explained. He concentrated so hard his eyes flashed. "There's someone spying on us behind that canvas sheet upstairs."

"You think it could be a monster? Not Panic The Bothering again, I hope?"

"No, the aura is weak. Very hard to detect."

It could be a stray cat as well as an ordinary human – he would have to ask doctor Kuseno to adapt his analytical capacity of energy to beings lacking superhuman strength.

"What if it's the old man?" Saitama suggested, looking hopeful. "Maybe he stayed after all…"

"There's only one way to be sure." Genos decided, closing his fist.

He knocked three times, his metallic hand colliding with the metal shutter and shattering the silence with a deafening clattering noise.

"Hey! Anyone in there?" Saitama called out using his hands like a megaphone.

The diffuse presence was moving, coming down to the ground flood, just behind the metal shutter. But they got no answer. Genos and Saitama shared a look, and Saitama cleared his throat, knocking in turn.

"Hey, old man! You there? It's me, Saitam-"

He didn't get to end his sentence – he probably hadn't restrained his own strength enough, or maybe the metal shutter just wasn't fixed well, because it fell down and collapsed on the floor in a cloud of dust. Saitama looked down, confused.

"… Oops."

"Who are you?" barked a harsh voice coming from the back of the room. "I've got no money and there's nothing to steal in there, you're wasting your time."

They looked up to see what once was the inside of a shop, now cluttered with cardboard boxes, cement bags and iron bars. An old man with a thick moustache glared at them from behind the counter.

"Don't you have better things to do than harass a retired old man crippled with arthritis?"

"Don't you recognize me, old man?"

The man narrowed his eyes, looking wary when Saitama stepped over the collapsed metal shutter to walk towards him.

"No. I have no acquaintance with thugs."

Despite his stoic and dignified attitude, a drop of sweat rolling down his brow gave away how scared he really was.

"But it's _me_! I used to live around here a few years ago and I was a hero as a hobby, remember? It's me, Saitama!"

"Impossible. You are bald. Saitama-kun had hair."

Genos felt his teacher bristle with indignation at the mention of his nonexistent hair.

"S'not my fault if I lost my damn hair!" The hero burst out, obviously extremely offended. "You of all people should get it, old man! Going bald ain't fun, and you know it!"

The old man raised an eyebrow and frowned, stroking his moustache. Then, without a word, he walked around the counter and stopped right in front of Saitama. Genos blinked when he grabbed his own hair and… took it off. It was in fact a wig he used to hide his own baldness. He reached and put the mop of hair on the hero's bald skull, searching intensely his face. Genos stayed silent and Saitama frowned, looking aghast. Genos more than once tried to picture his master with hair – he did quite a lot of sketches in his notebooks – but that wig looked more like Saitama had some dead cat on top of his head. However, it was enough to convince the old man who smiled affectionately, his moustache puffing out.

"Ah, Saitama-kun. You're the only one I ever revealed my little secret to. I didn't recognize you right away, sorry. But come on, make yourself at home, I'm going to make you some tea."

Saitama smiled, looking relieved. He took off the wig, dropped it on the counter and then followed the man to the back of the shop.

"Sorry about the shutter, old man. We'll fix it later."

They walked along a corridor that led to a small kitchen.

"Bah, don't worry about it. I wanted to replace it for a proper door anyway, now that I don't run the shop anymore. Take a seat, I'll put the kettle on."

Following Saitama's lead, Genos sat down on one of the western style chairs, while the tailor poured water in a kettle.

"I never thought I'd see you again, Saitama-kun. It's a long way from Z city and there's no bus or train in this area anymore. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, actually…"

Saitama opened his bag and put his folded suit on the table.

"… it's torn and I hoped you could sew it back with the same fabric."

The old man raised high his eyebrows and put a teapot and three cracked cups in front of Genos. Then he gently took the suit, unfolded it and examined the extent of the damage.

"You haven't changed at all." he smiled fondly. "Like old times, right? So you're still playing hero?"

"Yeah, well… I'm a professional hero, now. I do exactly the same stuff but I'm paid for it."

The old man nodded approvingly.

"To manage to tear such a high quality suit, that monster you fought must have been very strong, huh?"

"Mh, yeah, he was pretty tough." Saitama admitted, scratching pensively his cheek.

The water was boiling loudly, covering the quiet buzzing sound of the fridge. Every seven seconds precisely, a drop of water dripped into the sink. A small old television was perched on the microwave.

"Good, very good." the old man mumbled, taking the kettle. "And who is that young man you came with? He's very quiet."

"That's Genos." Saitama said flatly, pointing at him with his thumb.

Genos stiffened, realizing it had been impolite to come inside that man's house without introducing himself first. It was very rude and unworthy of Saitama's official disciple. Therefore, he bowed respectfully and announced with his best honorary and modest phrases:

"I am his devoted disciple. Pleased to meet you, sir. Thank you for allowing me in your house."

Pouring the boiled water in the teapot, the tailor raised his eyebrows, looking impressed. Then he sat down beside Saitama – their bald skulls shone together under the ceiling lamp.

"Oh, you even have a disciple, huh? So you've become someone important! Like that young hero always on tv, who has tons of fans? Amai Mask. He plays the main role in a drama I like a lot. Very talented. I never miss his shows."

Saitama pulled a face, and Genos knew he was thinking about all the hate mail he got every week while Amai Mask was adulated like a star.

"Er, not really, no…"

The old man smiled kindly and poured tea in the cups, one by one.

"Don't be so modest, Saitama-kun. It's an honor for me to be the official tailor of a hero, even if I'm retired now. That suit was the accomplishment of my whole career."

Genos wrapped the steaming cup between his metal fingers. The tea exhaled a distinct aroma of ordinary roasted green tea.

"Does this mean you're going to grant our humble request and sew back the suit?" the cyborg asked politely, dead serious.

Saitama sipped his tea with no care for the high temperature while the tailor thoughtfully blew on his tea to cool it down.

"Of course, I'll do it."

A childlike smile lit up Saitama's face, and Genos stared at him, his core pulsated an energy wave in his thorax.

"Thanks, old man! You're the best!"

"Unfortunately, I can't do it for the moment. Come back in a few months and I'll take care of it. As you may have noticed, I'm busy with rebuilding work."

The old man put down his cup with a sigh and smoothed down his moustache.

"You know of course that a meteorite exploded above Z city a while ago. Some heroes managed to stop it in time, but the projectiles devastated the area. The media talked about it a lot, and there's a project of a movie – I heard it'll be a romance drama. The main character will be played by Amai Mask. Anyway, my neighborhood too suffered from the damage, and my apartment was partly destroyed. I've been sleeping on the ground floor since."

Genos and Saitama shared a meaningful look, and the cyborg took a sip of tea to keep his composure. His artificial stomach's incinerator switched on to turn the liquid into energy.

"But… your insurance's gonna give you money and pay for the building work, right?" Saitama asked, looking embarrassed.

The tailor scowled and shook his head.

"No. The contract stipulates that I'm entirely covered in case of monsters attacks, thieves, murderers, wild animals, civil war, world war, bombing, alien attack, flooding, fire, storm, tsunami, plague of insects – I added this one after that invasion of mosquitoes last summer – and even living dead and ghosts, just in case. But no meteorites."

"Oh, bummer." Saitama said flatly, obviously more and more uncomfortable.

"All I managed to obtain, arguing that a meteorite could sort of be seen as an alien attack or a bombing, was for them to send me the material necessary for building work. But I didn't get any money, so I'll have to do it all by myself. That's why I won't have the time to take care of your suit right now, Saitama-kun."

Genos downed his tea in one go, and made the decision to rescue his teacher, eyes burning with determination :

"I can take care of your roof and your wall in exchange of what you will take care of Saitama-sensei's suit!"

Saitama and the tailor stared at him in exactly the same way – like they just remembered he was there – and blinked at the exact same second. The light of the lamp was reflecting on both of their bald head.

"But…" the old man hesitated. "That's hard work, son. You really think you'd be able to? It's going to take you months!"

Genos smiled confidently.

"I can do it within a day. I'm used to it. I have fixed sensei's roof and filled back the craters in his street many times. I'm quite good at it."

"I'll help him!" Saitama added with conviction. "Between the two of us, we'll finish it in two hours!"

The old man still looked hesitant. He stared at Saitama like he tried to estimate how serious they were, then he nodded.

"Alright then. If you manage to finish it all for tomorrow, the suit will be ready."

He glanced at the narrow window – it was already pitch black outside.

"But it's getting late, and the neighborhood isn't safe at this time. I'll be worried if I let you go. There are some unpleasant people wandering over at nightfall. It's too dangerous. I've got some spare futons, if you don't mind sleeping next to me. You can start working on the roof tomorrow morning while I sew back the suit, mh?"

Genos was about to point out that as professional heroes, they were more than able to defend themselves, but the tailor continued with a nostalgic smile :

"And it's been a long time since I had company for diner. Not since my wife passed away…"

He understood, seeing Saitama's pitying look, that they had no other choice than to accept.

Genos helped the tailor cook three big bowls of oyakodon while his teacher gave up trying to be useful after he accidentally broke an egg between his too powerful fingers. To indulge the old man who didn't want to miss an episode of his favorite drama, they also had to watch Amai Mask play the role of a detective with psychic powers who seduced another woman every ten minutes. Genos admitted at the end of the episode that he kind of liked it after all, and that he might watch the episode next week to see what happens. Which delighted the tailor, and made Saitama pull an annoyed face.

Genos hadn't spend such a… _family-like_ evening in a very long time. A nostalgic feeling choked him when they laid down their three futons next to each other on the ground floor. They didn't have a lot of space between the cement bags, the counter and the metal shutter Saitama fixed back. Lying down in the dark under the blanket – he never got rid of this habit – Genos didn't set on his sleep mode right away. He stayed still and awake for a long moment. His golden eyes shone in the dark like a cat's, and the fans in his chest hummed quietly to regulate his temperature. With a muffled rustling, he turned his head just enough to watch the two men asleep next to him.

A hint of a smile floated on his artificial lips when he gazed at Saitama. His forearms folded under the pillow his face was buried on, his teacher was breathing with his mouth open and eyelashes shivering on his cheeks. A small puddle of saliva was beginning to grow on the pillowcase just beneath his mouth. Saitama was wearing a too large t-shirt their host lent him as a pajama. A bit further, the tailor was snoring and mumbling on his sleep.

Distant memories emerged, painful and nearly faded. His father had been a snorer too and Genos slept in his parents' room until he was ten. It was a familiar sound. Soothing.

Memories from that time were those of an ordinary human. They were blurry, without hard drives and savings like he was using today to store everything and increase his brain's activity. He realized he couldn't remember his parents' face or voice anymore, at least not precisely.

Genos swallowed back as best as he could a rush of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him, and activated his sleep mode. His eyes switched off and his eyelids closed. His head was still turned toward Saitama, the nostalgic expression remaining on his synthetic face.

He didn't know precisely what woke him up but when the cyborg suddenly opened his eyes, it was still pitch black and his internal clock showed 03:22. He sat up sharply, the golden items in his eyes analyzing the empty space in the futon next to him. The tailor was still there, snoring loudly with his moustache fluttering with each breath but Saitama-sensei was gone. Did he go to the toilet? Usually he slept soundly and never left his bed at night to relieve himself, except that one time when they ate some not very fresh gyôzas – the promotion was a bit too appealing not to hide something – and sensei had to get up and lock himself in the WC for an hour because of his indigestion.

Genos pushed back his blanket and stood up as quietly as he could, focusing his energy sensors. He relaxed once he located his teacher's aura upstairs. He was barefoot and the metal clanked on the ground with each step, so it was unlikely Saitama wouldn't hear him climbing up the stairs. Nevertheless, when the cyborg arrived on the first floor and saw him from behind, sitting down with his legs hanging down the empty space of the destroyed wall, Saitama didn't stir nor acknowledge his presence. He had pushed back the canvas sheet, and it rustled softly at each gust of wind, like wings.

Wearing his boxer shorts and borrowed t-shirt, Saitama was gazing at the night full of stars, with a faraway but intense expression.

Genos silently sat down by his side, so close that their shoulders and hips touched. Then at last Saitama looked down from the sky and glanced placidly at him.

"Ah, I woke you up? Sorry."

Their legs were hanging a few meters above the pavement. The street was empty apart from a few stray cats chasing rats. Saitama was slowly swinging his legs, and their bare feet brushed – Genos suppressed a shiver that shot up his metal spine, artificial nerves transmitting the sensation to the brain. He shook his head.

"No. My sleep mode was completed." he lied. "But you, sensei, why are you awake? You only slept four hours, that's not even half your usual required amount of sleep."

Genos knew it because he kept detailed statistics of Saitama's sleep hours every night. Saitama looked back at the starry vault. There was no functional street lamp in this area, and if Genos didn't have his night vision on he would have trouble distinguishing his facial features.

"The old man was snoring too loud, I couldn't sleep." he explained calmly.

Genos frowned, thinking hard.

"Sensei needs to sleep. Do you want me to bring your futon up here? It would be quieter."

"Nah, it's too cold without walls and roof, it'd be like sleeping outside."

"I can keep you warm, Saitama-sensei!"

Proving his point, the cyborg increased drastically his general temperature, making his body glow between the metal plates.

"Ooooh," Saitama breathed, looking impressed and delighted. He put his hands near Genos' chest to warm them up. "So handy! With a blanket on top, you'd make a perfect kotatsu!"

"Good! I'm going to fetch your futon, your pillow and your blanket!"

When he tried to stand up, Saitama held him back by grabbing his wrist. The cyborg offered no resistance, knowing that his grip could accidentally rip his arm off again.

"No need to," Saitama said flatly, shrugging. "M'not sleepy anymore. Stay, you'll keep me company."

Genos relaxed and sat down properly. The quiet humming of his fans regulated his body temperature so the heat wouldn't become uncomfortable for Saitama. The light Genos emitted was reflected in glowing colors on his teacher's skull.

A few minutes went by in a peaceful silence while Genos stared at his teacher's profile out of the corner of his eye. Saitama seemed absorbed in his own thoughts and the contemplation of the stars. But just when he was about to break the silence and ask him a question about his past – he'd never get tired of Saitama's stories about the time before they met – the hero spoke first, in a soft and low voice :

"After I defeated the alien boss, I understood something…"

The cyborg turned his head to stare more intensely at his teacher. Saitama wasn't looking at him, he kept staring at the night sky with a distant sadness in his eyes.

"… I know for sure now that I'll never feel the exaltation of a real fight again."

Genos opened his eyes wide, his pupils contracting dramatically. Was sensei… was he _confiding_ in him? Speechless, he watched him breathe a heavy sigh. Saitama's legs stopped swinging, and he brought his bare feet back on the edge. Chin rested on his knees, he still was avoiding his disciple's piercing stare.

"You know what he said to me, that alien? He searched the whole universe to find a worthy opponent to equal his strength. But all he managed to do was to distract me for a while. I didn't get out of breath, and I wasn't even in danger for one second."

"That's why you said you were disappointed…" Genos ventured, frowning. "That fight wasn't worthy of you. I understand."

"No, Genos. You don't."

Saitama finally turned his head to look at Genos square in the eye – and the void the cyborg saw in here was heartwrenching.

"If that guy was the most powerful in the universe, and I kicked his ass easily… it means there's no one left anywhere strong enough to challenge me."

"Sensei…"

With a bitter smile, Saitama looked away, the night wind making his shirt ripple against his chest.

"To be honest, I kinda suspected as much. It's been a while since I've felt anything facing a monster and I get more and more bored during fights. But I dunno, I was still hoping that someday, maybe, a monster would show up and be strong enough to take my punches and make me feel something. Even just a little bit. It's been a year since I lost forever the only thing that gave my life a meaning at a time when even the idea of dying seemed less boring than living. I lost my reason for living and didn't even realize it. Or rather I refused to admit it until that fight against Boros. If I had known it wouldn't last forever, I'd have savored every second of my first fights. If I had known I'd become _too_ strong, I wouldn't have trained so hard. And now, when I think that I'll never again… Hey, Genos?! No, wait, don't cry!"

With a panicked face, Saitama looked around – in vain – for something to wipe off the dark oiled tears flowing from the cyborg's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, sensei," Genos said in a choked sob, his head lowered. "I didn't realize how much you're suffering…"

"Don't say nonsense. I should be the one apologizing. I wouldn't have said anything if I had known you'd get so upset about it."

Saitama used his bare hands to try and wipe the stream of tears. The warm touch made Genos shiver and he cried even harder. Those too powerful hands that could destroy the strongest monsters in the universe with only one punch softly caressed his artificial cheeks. The black oil soiled his teacher's fingers and dripped down his wrists, his arms, his elbows.

"I'm sorry, sensei. You'll get dirty because of me."

"For an armed to the teeth avenger cyborg, you're way too sensitive, you know…" Saitama sighed with a hint of a smile. "Stop crying and forget about it, okay?"

Genos nodded weakly and tried to hold back his tears until he looked composed enough to reassure his teacher. Relieved, Saitama patted his back with a joke to lighten the mood.

But Genos had no intention to forget.

As they chatted more happily under the canvas sheet billowing in the wind until dawn chased away the dark, Genos made himself a promise.

To give Saitama back a reason for living would now be his priority mission.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:** Short chapter, I translated it all this morning while eating breakfast. Hope you'll like it! The next one is on its way, I'm translating it right now.

Thank you for reading and for your support, it means a lot!

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"Hey, look... that blond guy over there… he's got metallic arms!"

"Have you seen his eyes? They're so weird…"

"I've never seen this before. Maybe it's a disguise? But comic con is over already…"

"Wait, I recognize him, he's a hero!"

"Seriously? A hero? Kyaaah! It's the first time I see one for real!"

"Hey, isn't that the new S class? You know, the 19 years old prodigy who got admitted directly on top of the ranking! Everyone was talking about it on the internet after the last admission exam!"

"Nooo! Can't be!"

"Yes! It's him! I recognize him now!"

"Oh, it's the cyborg prince! He's so mysterious and he refuses to answer interviews or be on television! I think it's so classy!"

"My wife is a fan of his!"

"Oh my god! He's the hero who saved my son a month ago! I sent him a thank you letter!"

"You think we could ask him an autograph?"

"Wait, I'm going to take a picture of him…"

"My friends are gonna be so jealous when I tell them tomorrow!"

"He's even more handsome in real life!"

"Ahhh! He looked this way!"

"Shhh, quiet! He might hear us!"

"But why would a S class hero be here, in this ordinary supermarket?"

"He stayed humble and close to common people, not like the other S class we never get to see!"

"Maybe there was a monster's attack in the area?"

"Should we try to talk to him?"

"Kyaaaah no, I'm too shy! You do it!"

The whispering increased in the several queues lining up before the checkouts, covering the bipping sounds of the code readers. All eyes were turned towards the cyborg waiting in line. He finally arrived and, with dignity, dropped in front of the petrified cashier two huge packs of toilet paper. Sixty rolls, double ply, extra soft, printed flowers patterns.

The cashier scanned the items and stammered her ready-made phrases to announce the price reduction on this special offer. Her hands were shaking so hard she had trouble counting the coins and giving him his change. Stoic, The cyborg stared down at her, his eyes cold enough to freeze an active volcano. He thanked her with a short nod and loaded the toilet paper under his arms. Seeing his hard face and intense eyes, no one among the clients gathered around him dared approach him. They had to settle for taking pictures and videos of him leaving, commenting animatedly what just happened.

Involuntary, Genos just won hundreds of new fans, just by doing grocery shopping in a supermarket of C city.

It took him about half an hour to get back to Z city, running as fast as he could and jumping from roof to roof with his precious purchase. When he opened the apartment door and announced out loud his return, he feared he was too late.

"Ah, Genos!" Saitama called from the bathroom. "Did you find it?"

Arms holding the packs, the cyborg pushed opened the door with his shoulder. His teacher was there, sitting on the toilet with his pajama's pants down to his ankles and a manga in his hands. He didn't move at all since Genos left the apartment in a hurry.

"Yes. There was an important special offer on toilet paper in the Ultra Price from C city. Double ply, extra soft and absorbent. According to online consumers' reviews, its quality is much better and less chaffing for your skin that the one you use to buy. I thought you might appreciate it. I am sorry I kept you waiting."

Dumbfounded, Saitama blinked when his disciple dropped down in front of him the sixty rolls of packed toilet paper.

"Ah. That's why it took you so long? I was starting to wonder if a monster jumped you on the way. You know, Genos, I just wanted a roll from the corner store, you didn't have to go fetch some luxury toilet paper from another city…"

"Nothing is too good for you, sensei. As your disciple, it's the least I can do."

Saitama put his manga aside and tore off a length of paper with a tired sigh.

"And now you're being weird again. Thanks anyway, you're saving my life."

Genos' face lit up with a satisfied smile and he got out of the bathroom to let his teacher wipe himself privately. He sat down seiza-style at the table in the living room. His notebook n°3789 was opened just as he left it, with the mark his pen did when he stopped writing and rushed to help Saitama who was calling from the WC because there was no toilet paper left. Since they got back from their short stay in D city at Saitama-sensei's official tailor, Genos had been so engrossed in creating an infallible plan to make his teacher happy, that he forgot to buy some basic hygiene products he didn't need himself. He had no digestive system – his stomach incinerated everything he ate, so he had nothing to evacuate. He hoped that buying high quality toilet paper rolls for such a low price would be enough to make up for his negligence.

As usual, he scrupulously wrote down Saitama's digestive process' stages in his mensual statistics. Then, he frowned and turned back a few pages to inspect the new graph he made to record the exact number of his teacher's smiles every day. This last few days, Saitama smiled on average 2.174 times a day, with a 27% margin of error, considering it was sometimes hard to tell for sure if he was smiling or not. In particular when he had his back turned on him, or when Genos didn't have him in his direct sightline.

Bringing him toilet paper didn't make him smile, by the way. Genos wrote down his failure, then let out a frustrated sigh, melodramatically grabbing with both hands his synthetic hair.

His plan wasn't working. The average number of smiles was way too low and nothing he did seemed to raise the graph's curve.

He tried everything, though. He wrote a list of everything Saitama-sensei liked, and made sure to bring him every one of those things. He gave him piles of special offers' flyers from miles around, cooked his favorite dishes everyday, rented at the video-club movies according to his tastes, bought him mangas with big breasted women in bikini on the cover. But Saitama's reaction was only to look confused and thank him, and sometimes give out a small forced smile. Genos even caught a stray cat to give it to him as a pet. But the terrified animal tore Genos' futon into pieces and urinated on Saitama's DVD player, so he gave up that idea and released it.

"Ah, I feel much better…" Saitama's voice sighed behind him.

Genos stayed focused on his notebook, the intensity of his glare nearly burning holes in his graph. Out of the corner of his eye, Saitama slouched down, using the fold futons to lean back against. The cyborg finally looked up when two bare feet crossed their ankles on the low table, offering him an unrestricted view of his sensei's feet soles.

Bare-chested and wearing only his pajama's pants, Saitama looked deeply bored and kept reading the manga he had with him in the bathroom. Genos stared at the wiggling toes, and automatically started drawing them on his notebook, thinking even harder. Maybe the reason he failed everything he tried until now was because he already did all of this – making food, housework, find him sales – since he moved in. If he wanted to find his teacher a new reason for living and help him be happy, he would have to get out of his comfort zone and try out new things.

"Sensei… this manga you are reading, what is it about?"

He wasn't a manga reader himself so he never thought about asking him about the stories he was reading all day long. He didn't even stop to read the summary of the ones he bought this week – he randomly picked those with sexy girls on the cover.

Maybe that was a good start – to take an interest to his teacher's passions.

Saitama blinked and glanced at him, face blank. Then he looked back at his manga and turned a page.

"Mh… It's about a high-schooler who's got some weird alien squatting his body but giving him extraordinary strength and magical powers in return. But if he tells anyone, the alien'll bail out and probably take his life at the same time. In my opinion, all that crap's linked to his missing father. But it's just the beginning, I dunno for sure. Right now, the guy's risking his life to protect some hot chick he's in love with and he wants to tell her the truth to impress her or something. Well, it's basic shônen, but it ain't bad."

"Can I read it too?"

"If you want, yeah."

No smile. Genos wrote down his failure in his notebook. Mangas didn't seem to fill him with enthusiasm, so it wasn't enough to become a new reason for living. His pen furiously scraped the paper as he wrote lines and lines until he came to a conclusion. He had to do more thorough research and maybe ask for advice.

With eyes burning with conviction, he looked up at the hero picking his nose while reading unenthusiastically his manga.

"Sensei. I'll make yakisobas tonight."

"Ah. Cool."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:** No Saitama in this chapter, but his name appears quite a lot... :p

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When Genos dropped his huge backpack on the work table, the loud _thump_ reverberated through the basement. The cyborg frowned, his golden eyes scanning the laboratory around him. That silence was unusual.

"Doctor Kuseno?" he called out.

He obtained no answer. Just silence, and the quiet humming of the machines lined up against the metallic wall. Near the table on which the doctor brought him to his new life, on which he had so often been taken to pieces and rebuilt, the removable screen showed two 3D sectional schemas of cyborgs slowly turning on themselves. Between them, computer lines of binary code scrolled at full speed. Genos walked to take a closer look – it probably was about his next upgrade the doctor was planning.

"Oh, Genos," the doctor's voice rose behind him. "I didn't hear you come in."

The cyborg turned to see Kuseno drying his hands with a clean cloth. He approached, smiling in his usual white coat.

"I was just working on a project of fire-proof hair with a more realistic and natural pattern than the one you've got now," he explained as he switched off the computer screen and faced him. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise visit? Did you break some of your parts again?"

Genos shook his head, dead serious.

"No. The new software you installed works very well. I could carry out basic repairs myself."

"That's wonderful, Genos." The doctor said with a warm smile. "So, tell me: what can I do for you?"

Genos walked to the work table and opened his backpack.

"I didn't have any room anymore at Saitama-sensei's for my observation notebooks from n°2800 to 3790." he explained while taking out the notebooks to pile them up on the table.

"You can store them with the others. I cleared two more shelves at the -3 level so you can file them in order. I put up a new scanner too if you want to numerize them."

"Thank you, doctor. There is another reason why I came for. To tell you the truth, I need your advice on something. But it's a… tricky situation."

The doctor folded his hands behind his back and looked at him more attentively. A smile lit up his eyes.

"It's about Saitama-kun, isn't it?"

Genos blinked, bewildered, and put down the notebooks.

"How did you know?"

"You always have that very human look in your eyes when you talk about him. You do it so often that I know even before you open your mouth when it'll be about him."

"Oh. I see."

The doctor helped him take all the notebooks out of the backpack and order them into piles.

"So what happened with your sensei? You know you can tell me everything, I'd never judge you. You are like a son to me, I will always be on your side and I only wish for your happiness."

Genos narrowed his eyes, wondering what meant the doctor – what did it have to do with anything?

"Lately I noticed that Saitama-sensei is feeling down. His strength is so astonishing and beyond understanding that no one presents a challenge to him anymore. He is greatly saddened by this because fighting was his only reason for living, as he confided in me very recently. For the last week I've been thinking about a strategy to make him happy again and give him reasons to appreciate life even without the fight factor. To find him a new reason for living and fill up that emptiness. I pondered what could stimulate the same chemical adrenalin reaction in his body but I haven't found anything that could equal fight fever and danger. I feel powerless and demoralized. Just like I was when the mad cyborg destroyed my city and killed my parents in front of me. Before I met you, doctor. I thought hard to try and understand sensei's current state of mind, and I realized how terrible it must be to live without meaning or passion. My own destiny may be tragic and dark, but I've always had my revenge to look forward to. A clear and precise objective to plan my future and keep me from giving up. But Saitama-sensei only had fighting. Now he doesn't anymore and he can't have it back. I wish for his happiness and I'd give everything to chase away the sadness in his eyes but I don't know how to do it. I tried making him happy by lavishing attention on him on a daily basis, but all my attempts end up in failure. Sensei is to me the most important person in the world and I'm only realizing now how naive I've been to believe that with his strength nothing could ever get to him or destroy him. Especially when he always seems so stoic and impassive, even faced with the hatred and contempt of the very ones he saved with such pure and selfless intentions. Much to my shame I had nearly forgotten that Saitama-sensei is human in his heart and soul. He's not infallible, however great his strength and kindness may be. Now I live with the constant fear that what he lost might be the end of him one day if I fail to find something to replace it. Losing my parents, my city, my life and my body in less that one day taught me than nothing is eternal or indestructible, even when we believe we're safe. That's why I won't make the mistake of making light of what Saitama-sensei told me about not having a reason for living anymore. I could never bear losing Saitama-sensei and I'd do anything to protect him like he did to me. For he protected me and saved me so many times and I never gave him anything in return. I came here to ask your advice, doctor Kuseno, because I'm certain that with your wisdom and your intelligence you'd be able to find answers I can't see from my point of view. This last week I've been feeling like I go round in circles and I'm drifting away from my objective. Food and special offers can't replace fighting in Saitama-sensei's heart, I understand it now. And he already did sales before I knew him, so it's nothing new in his life. Maybe you, doctor Kuseno, will have a more efficient idea than the ones I came up with."

Genos stopped taking and remained silent, waiting for an answer. The doctor had listened to him very patiently – unlike his teacher, he never seemed to think his explanations were too long – and was stroking thoughtfully his chin.

"I see. Saitama-kun lost the heat of fight because he's too strong for his opponents, and it makes him depressed." he summed up.

Genos eagerly nodded, glad he made himself understood.

"What would your strategy be, doctor?"

"Hm, well, let me think… I told you before I'm working on a project of new hair for you. According to everything you told me about him, Saitama-kun has complexes about his baldness, and he misses his lost hair."

"Indeed. He won't admit it, but given how touchy he acts about the matter, I can guess his true feelings. Judging by his eyebrows and pubic hair's complexion and thickness, he probably used to have beautiful dark straight hair. But I already considered it a long time ago, doctor. Saitama-sensei stubbornly refuses all the miraculous treatments I find for him on the Internet."

"Anyway, It would take a lot of research and experiments to graft synthetic hair on living tissues and make it keep growing. For the moment, it is impossible, and not my specialty."

The cyborg's metallic shoulders sagged from disappointment. Looking sorry, the doctor scratched his own head, fingers deep inside the pudding-bowl hairstyle.

"Don't give up, Genos. I will work on it. Until then, I think I have another idea. You talked to me at length – and angrily – about the citizens' ungrateful attitude towards your teacher…"

"Yes. Saitama-sensei regularly gets slanderous letters, and sometimes people laugh at him or insult him. They don't dare do it directly when I'm walking with him, but I can hear and see them."

"If he had devoted and grateful fans just like yours, don't you think it would cheer him up and make him forget about his opponents being too weak for him?"

Genos opened and closed his mouth, his pupils contracting suddenly. He blinked, dumbfounded. How hadn't he thought of that sooner by himself?

"You're right, doctor!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Until now, He's only ever got one thank-you letter. Even if he showed no emotion when he read it, I know it means a lot to him. He keeps it very carefully folded in one of his mangas. I've seen it when I did the dusting."

He pulled out his phone and started typing so fast on the buttons his thumb became almost invisible. Puzzled, the doctor leaned closer to take a look at the phone screen.

"What are you doing, Genos?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago. Saitama-sensei is the ONLY B class hero without a fan-club – I check for any change every morning – so I'm gonna create it myself. I'm a citizen too, after all. The rules of the Association don't forbid heroes to create fan-clubs."

"Of course, but are you aware that you'll officially appear on the website as president of Saitama-kun's fan-club? A S class hero founding a B class hero's fan-club… people will talk, Genos."

"Let them talk, I don't care." Genos said coldly, narrowing his eyes. "The only reason I became a hero was for Saitama-sensei to accept me as his disciple. For this reason and nothing else. Once the fan-club is created, maybe fans would join in and send him letters full of praise."

His thumb stopped moving, and a smile grazed his synthetic lips. The fan-club was created on the official website of the Association. Immediately, two little pop-ups announced that new members just joined the fan-club. But his smile fell right away.

"Oh. It's only Mumen Rider and Bang."

He waited a bit longer with hope – there were approximately seven thousands members visiting the website at that exact moment, so the creation of the new fan-club couldn't go unnoticed since it appeared on top of the screen page with the news. But still no _real_ fan joined it…

After a few long minutes waiting, a new pop-up appeared to inform him that Speed-o'-Sound Sonic joined the fan-club. He closed his phone, boiling with rage. That nudist stalker was more clingy than a chewing-gum stuck on shoe sole!

"Looks like Saitama-sensei doesn't have any real fan," Genos sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket. "I can't rely on them to send him the praising letters he deserves."

"Hum… Why don't you write him one yourself?" Kuseno suggested. "You're always full of praise for him. You're his n°1 fan, after all."

The cyborg turned away and picked up his empty backpack, ready to leave the laboratory. He wouldn't find his answers here.

"No." he answered darkly. "Sensei is used to hearing me praise him every day, he doesn't pay any attention to it anymore. Writing it instead of saying it out loud would be the exact same thing he's heard from me a thousand times. It's the gratitude and admiration of random citizens he needs to prove him his work is appreciated."

"He doesn't have to know _you_ wrote it…"

Genos ground to a halt and slowly turned his head to glance at the doctor.

"You mean… write a false letter from an imaginary fan? A _fake_?"

Doctor Kuseno nodded, amused.

"But that's cheating!" Genos said, outraged.

"All is fair in love and war."

Genos turned to face him, frowning.

"This is not a war, doctor." he pointed out, deadly serious.

"Exactly. Wait a second, I'm going to give you some paper and a pen. I think it's in that drawer…"

"But, doctor Kuseno! I can't possibly lie to Saitama-sensei and betray his trust…"

Bent on the metallic drawers he was opening one by one, the doctor took out letter paper and all kinds of pens.

"Would you rather have a clear conscience or Saitama-kun's happiness?"

Speechless, Genos closed his mouth. He docilely let the doctor sit him down on the chair, stiff as a board and staring down at the blank paper. His core vibrated in his chest, and the fans started blowing air to regulate his increasing temperature.

"It's up to you, Genos." the doctor smiled, ruffling affectionately his hair. "Take your time. I'll be next room if you need me."

Genos ended up alone in the laboratory, with the humming of the machines and his own cooling fans to keep him company. Narrowing his eyes determinedly, he grabbed a pen and started writing neatly.

 _Saitama-sensei,_

He realized his mistake after drawing the lines of the two kanjis composing the word « sensei ». He tore out the paper sheet and crumpled it in his fist. He was Saitama's only disciple, no one but him called him _sensei_ – that slip would immediately reveal his identity. He was about to write just « Saitama » for his next attempt, but he stopped and thought hard. Genos and Saitama didn't have any official hero name yet, since they joined the Association not so long ago.

Genos got into the habit of controlling every day what was being said on discussion forums about his teacher, so he knew that people started giving him some nicknames. _Caped Baldy_ was the less pejorative and insulting of them all, but Genos highly doubted that Saitama would like to read that in a fan letter.

 _To the B-ranked hero Saitama,_

Wasn't it too cold and formal coming from a passionate fan? Genos grabbed his own hair and let out a frustrated growl, and tore off that sheet too.

 _For Saitama, the greatest hero of them all,_

 _I am one of your many silent fans. I am the father of a child you saved and I am very grateful_

Genos frowned and stopped writing. He used the reactor in his palm to burn to ashes his failures.

"No, it isn't right. Whenever Saitama-sensei looks envious about my fans or Amai Mask's, he only ever mentions the _female_ fans. An anonymous letter coming from a woman would please him most."

But how could he write like a woman and make it believable?

 _Saitama-kun,_

 _I am a pretty young lady and your number 1 fan. I admire very much your professionalism, your humility and your outstanding strength. I want you to know that many women like me are your fans and_

No young female fan would write so formally! It sounded so fake! His core overheated and thick steam escaped from his body when Genos burned the paper sheet with so much power he nearly melted the desk's steel.

"I can't do it!" he exploded, getting up so quickly his chair fell behind him with a loud noise.

Head lowered down, he grabbed the desk's edges and breathed loudly, afflicted by his failures. He ground his teeth trying to make up in his mind other letters, but to no avail. Everything sounded so fake it was ridiculous. Saitama-sensei was a smart man, he would figure out right away the forgery.

In order to write a believable anonymous letter, he would need to…

He opened his eyes again, determination burning in the gold. He knew exactly what he had to do.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:** We're now half way through the story! Thank y'all for your reviews, favs and follows! :D

Ar: Thank you for leaving a review, but I'm confused, I don't understand what it's supposed to mean…? Is it a secret code? Or did your cat step on the keyboard? (If so, I love cats so I feel very honored)

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"I'm back." Genos announced, closing the front door behind him.

"Yo, Genos."

Lying on his side on the futon, Saitama didn't bother turning his head to greet his disciple. He just vaguely waved at him. His bald head rested on his palm and one of his legs was folded up, relaxed. He was wearing white boxer shorts and nothing else.

Genos entered the living room and noticed the instant ramen cup, empty on the table. Clearly Saitama had to fall back on this for lunch since his disciple was gone almost all day long. The television was on let out a monotonous voice and some background piano music.

"I'm sorry to come home so late, Saitama-sensei." the cyborg apologized and sat down beside him. "The meeting lasted longer than I thought. If I had known, I would have made you a bentô."

"Mh? Doesn't matter." Saitama said absent-mindedly, focused on the tv screen. "Hey, Genos, did ya know worms are male and female at the same time and reproduce by fertilizing each other?"

Confused, Genos blinked and glanced at the television. It was obviously a nature documentary. Two viscous worms were wriggling head to toe against one another and a soporific voice was describing it all.

"No, sensei. I didn't."

"Me neither."

Looking deeply bored, Saitama scratched his buttocks and yawned so widely Genos could clearly see his glottis. Finally, as Genos stood up to throw the empty ramen cup and the unevenly divided chopsticks in the bin, Saitama looked away from the nature documentary and glanced at him phlegmatically.

"How was your S class meeting, by the way? Are there other monster attacks coming soon?"

"No." the cyborg answered and strode over his teacher to open the door-window and get some fresh air in the stuffy smelling apartment. "It's dead calm and there haven't been a single attack since the alien ship. We've only been summoned for an information meeting about the reconstruction of the HQ of A city."

Genos opened the curtains and the daylight rushed inside. He would have to clean the windows soon. Outside, birds were chirping in the peaceful silence of the ghost town.

"Ah. Nothing interesting, then. And how is the reconstruction going?"

Saitama changed channel. The worms documentary disappeared and now it was a teleshopping channel praising the amazing feats of an automatic peeler.

For the past week since they came back from the tailor, his teacher didn't leave the apartment, not even once. He stayed locked in, reading mangas or watching tv all day long. The brand new hero suit was still hanging from the nail on the wall, useless, while the hero himself idled around in his pajamas day and night.

This morning, before leaving for the meeting, he had to convince a sleepy Saitama to undress so Genos could wash the pajamas. They were hanging from the rack on the balcony. He took them down and noticed with a satisfied smile that they were now dry and clean.

"Reconstruction is over, sensei. The Association HQ has been extended and improved."

That drew Saitama's attention. Remote control in his hand, he sat up and leaned on the table to stare at him, eyebrows raised.

"What, already? It's only been a week since the building work began!"

"Metal Knight sent his robots to help." the cyborg explained as he opened the closet he built into the wall to gain more store room. "And Tatsumaki speeded up the pace by moving the heavy loads."

He took the ironing board out and unfolded it in the middle of the living room. Very carefully, he spread the pajamas top on the board. Saitama watched attentively as he activated his palm reactor to use it as an iron, controlling the temperature. He started ironing, smoothing down every last fold of the striped shirt, steam raising from his fingers.

"Moreover, the Association received the financial support of many wealthy patrons who've been very impressed by the alien threat and are now convinced that heroes are useful and important in our society."

"Cool."

"Therefore, the HQ is now a lot more spacious than he was before. We've been taken on a guided tour in the morning. Everyone is going back to work and starting tomorrow the C class heroes will have to go back to their weekly quota, the B class heroes to their monthly quota, and the A class heroes to their trimensual quota."

"Mh."

Saitama didn't seem to listen anymore, he was looking back at the teleshopping with a blank face. It was now about extremely absorbent cloth that could be fixed on the armpit to prevent sweat from staining clothes. Once the pajamas shirt was perfectly smooth and warm, Genos folded it carefully and started ironing the pants. He took extra care to stretch out the elastic to eliminate all the folds.

"Private apartments have been built specially for the S class heroes. They offered me one."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Saitama stopped picking his nose, his finger popping out of his nostril, and stared at him wide-eyed.

"These are luxurious suites strictly reserved for S class heroes, for free. Of course it is forbidden to share with a B class hero. I asked."

Turning off the reactor in his hand, Genos folded the ironed pajamas pants, then walked to his teacher and sat down in seiza by his side.

"Take a look, sensei, I took pictures."

Genos took his phone off his pocket and scrolled through the pictures while Saitama leaned on his shoulder to watch. His bare chest pressed against his metallic arm, radiating human warmth.

"300m2 of surface area, one king-size bed, a gym, a jacuzzi, a dining room, a gaming room, a wardrobe, a living room with a giant screen television, a small private movie theater, a terrace…" Genos enumerated monotonously.

"Seriously?!" Saitama gasped. "All that stuff just for S class heroes? And for free?"

"There are two swimming pools too: one inside, and the other one outside on the roof of the building. And free access to a 4-stars restaurant that provides room service. And a massage service – even though I have no use for that personally."

"That's so unfair!"

Genos kept a straight face when his teacher dropped his forehead on the metallic shoulder, looking utterly dejected. He could see his own reflection on the bald skull like in a mirror.

"I need to become S class at all cost…" Saitama mumbled through his clenched teeth, his forehead still pressed on the metal.

Genos' sensors and artificial nerves transmitted the sensation of the warm breath against his shoulder blade. He couldn't help flinching, his pupils retracting in his golden eyes. Saitama stoop up flexibly and hastily took his hero suit hanging from the nail.

"I gotta find a monster to gank and witnesses to prove I did it so I can be promoted as soon as possible! Where the fuck are the monsters when I need to punch the shit out of them?"

Genos raised his eyebrows and pocketed his phone. Taken aback, he watched his teacher wiggling to slip on the yellow new suit and fasten his white cape. His eyes were sharp and anguished – did he want the S class benefits and a apartment in the HQ so badly?

"Genos…"

The cyborg straightened his back automatically. His teacher had his back on him and was putting on his gloves. The back of his neck radiated a dark tension.

"Yes, Saitama-sensei?"

"When are you leaving?"

Genos blinked, not sure he heard correctly.

"Excuse me?"

"I've got to organize myself. For the rent, the electricity, the water… How long I've got before you move?"

Genos frowned and stood up to face his teacher. Saitama was stubbornly avoiding his eyes, pretending to adjust his belt.

"I'm not going anywhere, sensei."

Saitama stiffened and finally turned his head to stare at him, confused.

"What? But… what about your luxury apartment, then?"

"Like I said, sensei, it's not allowed to share it with a B class hero. So I refused."

And now, Saitama was gawking at him.

"Wait a sec', don't tell me you… you refused a luxury and free apartment with 300m2, jacuzzi, king-size bed and free food… to stay crammed into this dump in a ghost town?"

"Yes."

"But, but… are you fucking stupid!?" Saitama blurted out, looking completely stunned.

"I didn't hesitate and I won't change my mind."

"And what's gonna happen to the apartment?"

"It'll remain vacant. It's reserved to my name and no one but me can live in it."

Saitama facepalmed so hard that the room's air vibrated with the wave of energy.

"Such a waste…"

Genos remained silent for a few seconds as his teacher sighed, shaking his head and looking aghast.

"… I didn't want to leave you alone, sensei." He whispered in a calm and determined voice. "A few months ago, you told me that you felt lonely your whole life. I don't want you to feel that way no more."

Saitama blinked and looked at him like he saw him for the first time. He cleared his throat, and his face hardened with one of his rare and serious expressions.

"Genos… you…"

A familiar humming interrupted him. The sound became louder, and Genos turned his head to see the Association's drone approaching. It glided above the balcony, dropped a box there, and then flew away in the peaceful sky of Z city.

"It must be the mail." Genos stated, his voice wavering with sudden nervosity. "Just like they said, the Association's administration and activities are back to normal."

As Genos picked up the box and emptied it's contents on the table, Saitama came closer and sat down, looking vaguely curious.

"Is there something for me?"

"Didn't you just say you wanted to beat down a monster to get promoted to S class, sensei? You're even wearing your suit. I can wait for you to return and we'll open the mail then."

"Meh, there's no hurry. I don't care that much anyway. Ah, wait, I see my name written there."

Genos saw him reach for a letter and open it. But as he started reading, Genos immediately noticed with his enhanced vision the insults and offensive accusations written on the paper – he didn't give his teacher enough time to read more than a line. His eyes flashed with rage and he immediately raised his hand, the reactor in his palm blasting a white-hot spurt of fire. The letter between Saitama's fingers was instantly reduced to ashes. The hero blinked as the ashes crumbled off his hands, and he looked up, wearing a somewhat disappointed frown.

"Hey… I was still reading that…"

"It didn't deserve to be read, sensei. I'm sure you have in that pile letters from real fans who appreciate what you do for our planet."

Saitama shrugged with no conviction.

"Ok. If you say so."

Genos bit down his lip when he saw in the pile the fake fan letter he wrote himself a few days ago. It would be hard to miss it. It was pink and scented, because doctor Kuseno thought it would look more _authentic_. His core dully vibrated in his chest as he took it and handed it over to his teacher.

"Here is another letter for you, sensei. This one might be a more grateful one."

"Ah. Thanks."

Genos pretended to focus on his own fan letters. But he wasn't reading them, he was too busy watching his teacher out of the corner of his eye.

"Heh? Perfume…?" Saitama mumbled, puzzled by the pink envelope he was examining.

He opened it carefully and started reading the letter. Genos tensed when Saitama's eyes widened as they ran over the lines. Was it a good sign? Or did Genos make a mistake somehow? Then, Saitama pinched hard the bridge of his nose, an embarrassed blush creeping his face up to the forehead.

"Is this some kind of joke?" He pulled a face, staring at the letter with a dazed look.

"What is, sensei?" Genos asked, hoping his voice sounded normal.

"Maybe it's just to mock me or something." Saitama sighed, dropping the letter on the table so his disciple could see. "First, all those hearts everywhere, then this drawing of me… And « Saitama-sama »? « _sama_ », seriously? In real life, no one uses « sama », that's ridiculous."

"Ah… Some of my fans use it for me…" Genos weakly retaliated, looking down.

"And look at this, she says she's been admiring me for a long time blah blah blah she's a member of my fan-club blah blah blah… I mean, each line is basically a love confession! And what the fuck are those comments about my muscles and my « manly strength »? She says, I quote, that my bald head is « really sexy and attractive ». That's so creepy!"

Deeply embarrassed, Genos looked away and his cooling fans switched on to regulate his overheating core. Maybe using as a model his own fans' letters he archived at Kuseno's wasn't a very good idea after all. All they did was fawning over Genos' superficial appearance, so he tried to do the same for Saitama.

"Aren't you happy to have a fan who loves you that much, sensei?"

Saitama pushed away the letter, and his eyes turned cold and hardened like a razor blade.

"No. 'Cause I don't buy it. I know exactly _who_ wrote that letter, Genos."

The alarmed cyborg's eyes widened and shock made his core whir.

"Sensei…"

Eyes hidden in shadow, Saitama slowly shook his head and smirked viciously.

"I'm not a fool. And now, this is going too far. I won't forgive it."

Shame and panic struck the cyborg hard, making him flinch. Saitama-sensei really looked furious – there was an aura heavy with anger all around him. He was just about to bow to him and beg for his forgiveness, when his teacher looked up aggressively and closed his fist, a vein pulsing on his temple:

"It's that fucking stalker again! He's back!"

Genos blinked, dumbfounded.

"A stalker…? What are you talking about, Saitama-sensei?"

"Oh, right, I haven't told you that story yet."

Saitama narrowed his eyes and leaned on the table towards Genos, looking dead serious:

"A couple months ago, there was a creep stalking me. Just a few days before you came knocking at my door, by the way."

"… Ah."

"I swear it's true!" Saitama articulated with a clenched jaw. "He followed me everywhere for days, 24h/24! When I was taking a bath, sleeping in my bed, grocery shopping or whatever, I felt observed all the time but I never managed to catch him in the act. That asshole even stole one of my french fries!"

"…"

"Don't look at me like that. You don't believe me, don't ya? It's no jokes, Genos. Stalkers are hella dangerous. They can develop some sort of obsessive and wrapped love, just like it happened in a horror movie I watched. Write that in your notebook, you could be a victim too one day. Luckily, I ended up catching the guy and punch him through a wall. He was in fact just a dude I defeated one year ago and he had become creepily obsessed with me since that day. And this letter…"

He pointed an accusing finger at it, looking more and more suspicious by the second.

"… it's got to be him coming back, no doubt here. I shouldn't have let him live. If food comes to disappear, we'll have to track him down and beat the shit out of him once and for all!"

"Yes, sensei…"

Mortified, the cyborg let out some steam and took his notebook to write down this new failure, while his teacher inspected the fridge to make sure nothing disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:** Damn, I feel like my fic is so weird in english. I mean, my writing style is basically a LOT of adjectives, and it sounds good in french, but when I translate… I cringe when a beautiful sentence suddenly becomes ugly. :'(

AmazonaVerde: Yeah, Genos is too adorably cute to be a creep XD Thank you so much for your review! I tried my best to respect Genos and Saitama's personality!

 **oOo**

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His face strained with extreme concentration, Charanko kneeled in seiza and poured the tea into the three pottery cups. Sitting cross-legged and relaxed on the tatami, Genos silently watched him proceed, while Bang looked deep in thought. Steam rose in curls from the cups, exhaling a subtle aroma.

The dojo that once used to host hundreds of disciples was now dead quiet and empty.

When Silver Fang's disciple put aside the teapot, Genos took unceremoniously the fragile cup between his metallic fingers. Despite it's sobriety, the pottery was obviously finely worked and very valuable. The cyborg inhaled the aroma and took two burning gulps – the flavor was refined and subtle. Charanko glared at him, looking deeply offended by his lack of respect for Bang.

"Not bad. A maccha and genmaicha blend, right?"

Bang looked up and hummed approvingly as he took his own cup.

"Oh, so you're a connoisseur?"

Genos looked down at the green tea in his cup – his black and golden eyes were reflected on the surface. Charanko let out an irritated groan when Genos folded up a leg and casually dropped his arm on his knee. He was well aware he was offending the young disciple, just like himself would have been furious if anyone dared look down on Saitama. And that was the point. Last time, Charanko had been insulting and rude towards Saitama, so Genos had no intention to be polite until he apologized in due form. That brat was annoying, anyway.

"Sort of." Genos shrugged. "My parents owned a shop selling mostly tea and mochi. I used to help running the shop from time to time."

"I see. Then tell me what you think of those seasonal sweets. Charanko?"

Charanko reluctantly opened a cake box. He narrowed his eyes with a suspicious pout, and then pointed a finger at Genos.

"Master Bang! Don't you think it's a waste to give such expensive tea and sweets to a robot? It's no use to him!"

Genos stared at him threateningly, the gold in his eyes flashing.

"Charanko, be polite to our guest." Bang ordered sternly and frowned. "Genos is not a robot, he's a cyborg."

"It's the same thing! It's like offering food to a toaster!"

"The toaster's gonna roast your face off." Genos snarled between his clenched teeth, activating the reactor in his hand.

Charanko turned pale and rushed to go hide behind his master who was sipping his cup of tea, undisturbed.

"Quiet, children." the old man sighed, slowly shaking his head. "Genos, I'd be grateful if you refrained from killing my only disciple. As useless he may be, he's the only one I've got left, and if anything happens to him, It would be even harder for me to find new students."

"I understand." Genos soberly answered, switching off the blazing fire in his palm.

Genos grabbed a sakura flower shaped soft cake and chew on it. He swallowed and gulped tea to make it all go down his artificial esophagus to the stomach that immediately incinerated it all. Inside his chest, his core stored the produced energy. The cyborg put down his cup on the tatami.

"Enough time wasted on useless stuff. I didn't come to chat about tea and cake. I used a non-existent S class meeting as an excuse to get away from Saitama without him questioning it. But I don't want to leave him alone for too long. Did you think about the problem I informed you of when we were visiting the new HQ, Bang?"

"Mh. So you said Saitama-kun lost his sense of purpose and the holy fire of fighting? And you're on a quest to find him a new reason for living."

"Yes. I leave it up to your great experience due to your old age. Along with doctor Kuseno, you're the oldest human being I know."

"Hey, toaster! Are you insinuating master Bang is an old fart? Have some respect, or I'll recycle you!"

"Shut up, Charanko. You're embarrassing me."

The young disciple closed his mouth so fast his teeth clattered, and he lowered his head penitently. Bang stroked thoughtfully his chin, thinking hard. A drop of sweat ran down his cheek.

"Genos. Saitama-kun acknowledges you as his disciple, right?"

A smile lit up the cyborg's face as he bloated with pride – that was the greatest achievement of his life.

"Yes. He officially took me as his student when we passed together the Association's entry exam."

"I see. Reaching the highest level of one's art or strength might be considered the end of it, but in my opinion, it's only the beginning of a new purpose. A wider, nobler, selfless purpose. It's a never-ending source of pride and satisfaction to pass on everything I learned to a disciple and see them make progress day after day."

"Master Bang…" Charanko whispered, looking ecstatic and stunned. "Are you talking about me?"

Silver Fang dropped a rough hand on top of his disciple's bushy hair.

"Even a good-for-nothing with no talent whatsoever for martial arts like this one gives me a long-term goal to look forward to. Because no matter how talentless he is, he never gives up, he keeps trying, and he's the only one who remained loyal to me when all my other students left. That requires a bravery and a strong mind very few people have."

"Thank you, master Bang!" Charanko choked with emotion, barely holding back his tears.

"Although I wonder sometimes if it's not just stupidity…" the old man mumbled, glancing at his delighted disciple.

Bang cleared his throat and concluded sternly:

"Here's my advice, Genos: show Saitama-kun how much you progressed since you became his disciple. Impress him. There is no greater joy for a teacher than seeing his student become strong, don't forget that."

Genos nodded – was this the answer he was looking for? Indeed, he never asked Saitama for another training session since that day, so he never had an occasion to show him all his new improvements and increased power…

Determined, the cyborg stood up and thanked Bang for the advice. He opened the sliding door to exit the dojo. Silver Fang walked him outside and said more lightly:

"If it doesn't work, you could find him a hobby. Like fishing, for example. Personally, it always puts me in a good mood."

"I take note of it."

The old man patted his metallic shoulder as a good bye. Then, as he watched him walk away and vanish on the horizon, he smiled and murmured:

"You're a good disciple, Genos. Saitama-kun is very lucky to have you."

 **oOo**

Shades of bronze and glowing red marbled the sky as the blue faded away. Far off, the sun was diving into the horizon, casting it's last rays on the devastated landscape. Steam rose from the cyborg's body in thick curls that blurred his sight. He was pinned to the ground, half buried into the ashes and white-hot embers that covered it all as far as he could see. He knew there was no use trying to move his heavy artificial body. His core was empty – there was hardly enough energy left to supply his brain with oxygen and maintain the activity of the hard drives and microchips linked to it.

The gold in his eyes had become dull. His field of vision was flickering, and a red warning flashed about his battery level being dangerously low – it was down to 0,001%.

The blowing wind sounded like a gloomy human voice. It made ashes dance and swirl around like silver dust. A few meters away, a cape's rustling and the loud _thump_ of a body landing drowned out the faraway rumble of the raging forest fire. Saitama's familiar footsteps approached, along with the crunching sound of embers under his boots.

"Hey, Genos! You're still alive?"

When a gloved finger poked his cheek, the cyborg blinked and used the few battery energy he had left to look at his teacher. Crouched and leaning over him, Saitama let out a sigh of relief and smiled. Then, he sat down next to his disciple.

"Pfwah, you scared me for a second there. That was a lil' bit extreme. I've never seen you so motivated."

Saitama wasn't even out of breath, though. He didn't get a scratch and his brand new hero suit wasn't dirty or torn. But he did look genuinely impressed. He looked around and let out an amazed whistle. The smell of burning was suffocating and the setting sun painted the giant craters in red light. Far away, what was left of forest was burning in a blazing fire. The golden sun was turning red and orange and slowly dived into the horizon.

"You know you nearly razed the whole mountain to the ground?" Saitama said enthusiastically. "It surprised me! I had no idea you progressed so much! You're amazing, Genos!"

Bathed in the last golden rays of daylight, Saitama's face was glowing with a smile that took Genos' breath away and made his worn out core whir.

"I… did my best… sensei…" he managed to articulate with a weak smile.

Saitama looked down and leaned to watch him more closely. He raised an eyebrow, looking concerned.

"You sure you're okay, Genos? You kinda look woozy. You need me to take you to Kuseno?"

No matter how violent the cyborg's attacks were, Saitama never tried to fight back, not even once. All he did was dodge like an eel and block his blows without batting an eyelid. He did throw his colossally destructive punch twice, but Genos was perfectly aware his teacher did it slowly enough so he could deviate. The shock wave was enough to throw Genos hundreds of meters away, but Kuseno's upgrades prevented his limbs to be ripped off that easily now.

"There was no damage." Genos reassured him, trying to gather his strength to sit up, his whole body shaking. "My batteries are flat, I just need to eat something to recharge…"

"Whoa, wait, be careful! Don't move if you got no energy left!" Saitama panicked and embraced him with an arm to hold him and help him sit. "You should have told me before, I'd have brought something to eat with us…"

"I am… sorry… sensei…"

With no strength left, Genos leaned back against the arm, and his head fell on his teacher's warm shoulder. His battery level had reached a critical point, warnings flashed alarmingly in his sight, thing that hadn't happened to him in years. He struggled to keep his eyes half-open. The sun diving in the horizon looked like a blurred blotch.

"You're a pain in the ass, y'know?" Saitama affectionately complained. "Imma have to carry you again. Come on, let's go home."

Sensations were dulled and barely reached his brain, but Genos felt more than he saw his teacher lift him like if he was as light as a feather. Saitama carried him on his back, holding his legs under his arms.

The cyborg's head weakly rolled and nestled against Saitama's neck. He was pressed against his back, the cape caught between them. It wasn't the first time Saitama had to carry his disciple, but Genos was usually in pieces then, all his sensitivity sensors deactivated to spare him from feeling pain – Kuseno made sure no more sensation would reach the brain if the level of pain became too high.

"Alright, let's go!" Saitama said cheerfully and started walking. "I'll buy ya somethin' to eat in the first combini we come across. I think I've got like six hundred yens or so. Should be enough to buy you a nikuman and one of those energy drink cans. You like Calpis, by the way?"

He could feel his teacher's voice vibrating through his metallic body and his spent core. Genos did the best he could to move his fingers, and managed to embrace with his arms his teacher's neck and shoulders, his nose pressed against the steady pulse of his jugular. The soft skin there radiated with Saitama's warmth and smell. Genos closed his eyes, a light smile on his synthetic lips. Saitama-sensei looked like he got his good mood and his energy back. Bang had been right.

Cradled by his teacher's walk as he went all the way down of what was left of the mountain to go back to the city, Genos opened his pale gold eyes. His metallic fingers clung on to the suit, just where Saitama's heart was beating. Surely he had lost consciousness for a few minutes, because now it was dark and Saitama was walking in a residential area's. His footsteps echoed in the night.

"It's thanks to you, Saitama-sensei…" Genos raised his head just enough so he could whisper against his ear.

Saitama shivered and his body stiffened. He glanced at him and Genos thought he saw a flash of uncertainty.

"Huh?"

"If I'm becoming stronger…" Genos explained softly. "It's thanks to you and your teaching that I progress so much and will someday be able to destroy the mad cyborg and avenge my family."

Saitama's face became blank as he stared at him out of the corner of his eye. There was no trace of smile or joy anymore, it was all gone. Then, he sighed loudly and straightened his hold on the heavy cyborg slowly sliding down his back.

"You need to cut that crap, Genos. I've got nothing to do with it and you know it. Surely you've realized by now that I don't know the secret of my strength and I've got nothing to teach you. You just became stronger thanks to doctor Kuseno and your work as a S class hero."

"Sensei… you are…"

Genos tried to protest, to tell Saitama everything he admired about him, everything he learned from his humanity and wisdom, but he couldn't gather the energy to articulate so many words. His head fell back on his teacher's muscular shoulder. Saitama's facial expression was hard now and he was frowning.

"I kinda feel like I'm taking advantage of you and pulling you back more than helping you progress, to be honest. You cook, you do the housework, the laundry, the repairs… If it wasn't for me, you'd live in a luxurious apartment in the HQ. I wonder why you want to be my student so bad. I'm no use to you."

Saitama's heart was beating against Genos' hand, the pulse speeding up when the cyborg struggled to move his synthetic lips and speak from the bottom of his heart:

"Saitama-sensei… you are the strongest… the most generous, kind, amazing man I've ever met. I… admire you so much and I'm proud to be your disciple. You made me want to excel… to… become like you…"

Against his lips, the warm skin had goosebumps. His teacher stared down at him with a strangely wistful look.

"There's nothing special to admire, Genos. I didn't become strong to save the world or avenge my family or protect innocent people. I'm just a guy who became a hero 'cause he was bored as hell, s'all."

Saitama looked away, his eyes shadowed as he walked through a dark spot between two vending machines shining in the night like beacons.

"I should be the one envying and admiring you, Genos. You're a true vigilante and you've got a precise objective. You know what you want and where you're going. While me, I…"

"Sensei…" the cyborg said between his clenched teeth.

"Ah, I see a combini on the corner of the street. Hold on, Genos, we're almost there!"

"Sensei…" Genos insisted, tightening his grip on his teacher's suit.

So that was a failure too. Watching his disciple make progress wasn't enough to give his teacher a new purpose in life.

But Genos wouldn't give up.

He opened his eyes again, determined.

"Let's go fishing tomorrow morning, Saitama-sensei!"

His teacher stared at him in disbelief and dismay:

"Heh? You having a bug or something? My laptop too does some weird stuff that makes no sense when the battery's almost flat, No idea if it's the same thing for cyborgs… Ah! No, wait, don't turn off, Imma buy ya somethin' to eat, hang on in there, Genos!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note:** Thank you all for your kind reviews, favs and follows !

 **oOo**

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Seagulls shrieked at the break of dawn. They were circling overhead, feathers rustling in the wind when they dived, flapping their wings in a frenzy to land. Between two collapsed buildings, the huge carcass of what used to be a Seafolk exhaled a foul stench of rotting fish. A swarm of seagulls quarreled with belligerent crows over the remains.

Saitama held his nose with disgust and frowned when they walked near the dead body. As for Genos, he just deactivated his own sense of smell temporarily and readjusted on his shoulder the two fishing rods they just bought on sale.

Z city had never been rebuilt nor repopulated, and that was especially true for the coastline and the district where their apartment was situated. However, some citizens still lived in a few areas despite the daily threat of monster attacks and the disaster of the comet. Mainly poor and deeply indebted families, the homeless, gangsters, reckless or suicidal people and runaways.

But here… the cyborg thought, looking around. Here, no one ever cleared the destroyed buildings' rubbles, the asphalt was gutted by craters, and the slaughtered monsters – mainly by Saitama's punch – were left to rot slowly.

They had to stride over and climb piles of ruins to finally reach the beach. Foam glided in small rolls on the sand, and the ocean's mirroring surface melted into the pale blue sky. If it wasn't for the rising sun's rippling reflection, it would have been impossible to locate the horizon.

"It's beautiful…" Genos smiled with wonder.

Saitama yawned his head off. Two tiny tears appeared at the corner of his eyes.

"Did we _really_ need to get up that early?" he mumbled while rubbing the back of his neck, his eyelids puffy due to lack of sleep.

"Fish are more active during the early morning, sensei."

Eyes narrowed into two thin bored slits, Saitama dove his hands in his bermuda shorts' pockets. The early breeze rippled his polo shirt against his chest.

"Hey, Genos. How come you're already in top form even though yesterday your batteries were flat? We came home late and we only slept four hours. I thought you'd need more rest."

Scanning the deserted beach with an analytical stare, Genos felt the iodized wind ruffle his hair.

"Doctor Kuseno built my core so it would recharge faster after a critical situation, in order to recover quickly enough to go back fighting. Ah, sensei! I see a dinghy boat adrift!"

He ran, his feet hitting the sand until he reached the small gurgling waves, splashing water and foam all around him. His jeans were drenched up to his thighs when he finally grabbed the empty wooden boat that slowly drifted away. Genos had been hoping he would find an abandoned boat on the beach so they could sail and go open sea fishing, instead of remaining at the shore line.

He pulled it back to the beach where Saitama passively waited – he didn't look particularly enthusiastic about this little fishing outing, but not reluctant either. Genos encouraged him to go on board while he held the boat still. Once his teacher was settled in the rear, he tried hoisting himself on to the other end.

But he didn't take into account something important – he had only just put a foot inside and the dinghy rocked dangerously, because he weighed so much more than his teacher. It came close to throw Saitama flying in the air – thankfully, he had good reflexes and clung onto the boat so he wouldn't fall in the water.

"Hold on, sensei, I'm going to move!"

The dinghy rocked even more and almost overturned, the cyborg's heavy weight nearly sinking it. Perched on the end of the hull, Saitama frantically waved his arms and lost his balance. Genos only just caught him by the waist so he wouldn't dive in sea water.

"I didn't think about this." the cyborg sighed apologetically as he brought his teacher back in the boat. "I weigh more than 250kg, after all. It would be better if we stayed both in the middle to make balance."

Teacher and disciple awkwardly stomped each other to manoeuvre themselves into position, but finally they managed to sit side by side on the narrow bench in the middle, pressed against one another. Genos made himself as small as he could to leave Saitama some space, but in vain. His side, his shoulder, his hip and his knee were firmly pressed against his teacher.

"I hope it's not too uncomfortable for you, Saitama-sensei."

"No, it's okay. But how are we supposed to row, now?" the hero asked confusedly, grabbing a paddle.

Genos thought about logistics and then suggested each one of them took a paddle and rowed on his side. But it was not that easy to coordinate. They spent ten minutes going round in circles and splashing all around. They only managed to move forward three meters, and little waves already brought them back to the shore.

"Ah…" Saitama let out a disappointed sigh. "We're not gonna make it."

Genos clenched his jaw stubbornly and brought the paddle back inside the boat.

"I have an idea. Leave it to me, sensei."

Saitama raised his eyebrows and blinked when Genos leaned on him to position himself in the middle. He dove his hands in the water on each side of the dinghy. His eyes flashed golden, and the reactors in his palms switched on. The sea water warmed up as he increased his energy.

"Oooh…" Saitama gaped in wonder as the water started boiling around the boat.

"Hold on tight, sensei!" the cyborg warned.

His reactors launched burning energy at full blast and they nearly took off like a plane. The dinghy started up like a shot, cutting through the water and throwing big waves on both sides. Saitama clung to Genos, his clothes flapping against his body in the blowing wind.

"Whoaaaaa! You rock, Genos! Faster! Faster!"

Hugging the cyborg's neck with an arm, Saitama cheerfully threw his fist up in the air, the wind and speed deforming his blissful smile. Genos hadn't planned to take them that far away from the shore, but his teacher looked like he had fun at last, so he made it last as long as he could and displayed even more power to impress him.

Eventually when he switched off his reactors and wiped his soaked hands on his white shirt, Saitama loosened his hold and looked around, delighted. No land in sight, it was blue all around as far as they could see.

"I think it's a good spot for fishing." Genos calmly stated as he held out one of the fishing rods to his teacher. "I will give you a bait, just a moment."

He untied from his belt a small box full of earthworms he gathered this morning while Saitama was eating his breakfast in bed. His teacher watched him closely as he speared a worm on each hook.

"You look like you know your stuff, Genos! How come you wanted to go fishing that badly all of a sudden, by the way?"

Side by side and trying not to move so the unsteady boat wouldn't rock even more, teacher and disciple both threw their line in the water with a small _plop_.

"I used to go fishing with my father in summer when I was… _before_." Genos explained, keeping an eye on the bobber.

The sounds of water lapping against the hull brought back old memories. He smiled wistfully. His father's face was blurred, but he remembered precisely the warm sound of his laughter.

"We never caught anything," he said softly, "but those memories are very precious to me. I wanted to share that with you, sensei."

He made sure not to mention Silver Fang's advice. But Saitama stayed silent, staring at the cyborg with an unreadable look in his eyes.

The wood under their feet creaked loudly, and Genos looked away from the bobber. Saitama stared down, confused, and blinked.

"Did you hear a _crack_ too?"

The wood creaked again and the cyborg's energy sensors shot up as well as all his internal alarm signals.

"Sensei… something is coming. A very powerful threat. Be ready."

"Ah, ok." Saitama said flatly. He was still holding his fishing rod, relaxed.

Genos tensed up, on his guard. Everything seemed peaceful and silent except for the soft water lapping. There was nothing as far as he could see, not even underwater when he scanned it with his enhanced sight. But still his sensors located the growing energy here, just with them – that made no sense!

A series of creaking sounds, louder and louder. Genos clearly felt the wood vibrate and swell up under their feet and their buttocks, like if it came alive.

And suddenly, in a split second just long enough to draw a vaguely surprised « Ah... » from Saitama, the boat flipped over and plunged them right into the sea. The cold water rushed into his mouth and nose, immediately filling up his lungs and stomach. The heavy cyborg's body sank like a rock, but he activated his reactors to go back up and rise to the surface, his drenched hair falling like a curtain before his eyes. He evaporated the water in his stomach and let the rest in his lungs flow from his mouth.

His first reflex was to check on his teacher – he saw him, his bald head decorated with a thick slimy seaweed that slid back into the water with a moist sound. Unfazed, the hero was still holding his fishing rod like nothing happened. He barely raised an eyebrow and glanced at the monstrous dinghy facing them.

 _ **«**_ _ **How dare you climb on my magnificent back, you wretched insects**_ _ **! »**_ it inveighed, standing now vertically on the water. It's hull split to form evil eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth made of splinters. The paddles stretched to become muscular arms.

 _ **« You woke me up by squawking and stomping on my beautiful self! Now you are going to pay for it! I am… »**_

Genos decided to interrupt the monster in it's speech by activating his shoulders and hands' reactors to rise above the water, steamy and streaming with water.

"How dare you…" the cyborg articulated furiously through his clenched teeth.

His golden eyes flashed with wrath and his synthetic face grimaced in a threatening way.

"… ruin my private moment with Saitama-sensei!" he screamed, stretching his arms toward the monster that blinked, surprised.

He activated all his weapons popping out from his joints and metallic plates, and focused his energy so hard the water started boiling all around.

"I'm gonna incinerate you." he announced coldly.

"Whoa, you look angry, Genos."

"Leave it to me, sensei, I'll get rid of that intruder for you."

"Ok, enjoy, then."

 _ **« Fufufu, pathetic maggot, you really think you'd be up to... »**_

Genos didn't give the monster any more time to cackle. He hurled a massive blazing fire ball at it, in a deafening roar. When he lowered his arms and the steam cleared away, he realized a little late that the monster obviously controlled water and protected itself behind a water shield. The water fell down, splashing loudly – but the boat was no longer behind it.

 _ **«**_ _ **You won't be the first one I drown**_ _ **! »**_ the monster's voice raised just behind him.

His eyes widened – how did it move so fast? He probably took advantage of the steam mist to move around!

Before he could turn back, the boat hit him with a paddle, so hard he'd have been thrown to the sky if he didn't use his shoulders' reactors to stabilize in the air. Genos clenched his jaw and was about to attack again, but was beaten to it when a huge whirlpool shot up from the sea, struck him hard and swallowed him.

 _ **«**_ _ **Your turn, now**_ _ **…**_ _ **You humans tore me away of my native forest to enslave me. But now I have my freedom and I will have my revenge against every last one of you!**_ _ **»**_ he heard the boat-creature gloat, just before he was drawn down to the deep darkness, so quickly he felt the growing pressure crack his joints.

Genos didn't stay sunken long. Rather than use his reactors that burned too much energy, he held his breath and activated his fans that usually regulated his temperature but could also be used as a submarine's propellers. Night vision on, it was then easy for him to swim through the darkness. Struggling against the pressure, he went back up as fast as he could. The light came back slowly, and he saw his teacher's legs in the bermuda shorts moving lazily to stay at the surface. The monster was facing him, and Genos could only guess by the sound waves that it was still uttering it's speech.

When Genos appeared in the open air and breathed big gulps of oxygen, Saitama glanced at him and gave out a relieved smile. He was still holding the fishing rod, like he never stopped fishing in spite of the chaotic situation.

"Ah, you're back, Genos! I was wondering if I'd have to dive and look for you."

"I'm fine, sensei. Don't worry about me."

 _ **« H**_ _ **ey**_ _ **! »**_ the monstrous dinghy took offense, a wooden vein growing on it's hull. _**«**_ _ **I am not done talking, you insolent apes**_ _ **! »**_

Saitama sighed and pulled his line out of the water to point at the empty hook.

"Yeah." he said flatly to the boat. "And it's annoying, you know. You scared away all the fish, shouting like this. Shut the fuck up."

Struck dumb with admiration, Genos watched his teacher close his fist and reach limply until his knuckles brushed against the hull, without any energy whatsoever. It was barely a touch, but Saitama's amazing power blew out the monster in an explosion of splinters. The cyborg couldn't help smiling, unable to contain his pride. Saitama was really amazing.

"We didn't even get to catch a fish," Saitama complained as he took a piece of wood between his fingers. "And now we don't even have a boat anymore, we gotta swim all the way back."

"I can fly and carry you back to the beach, sensei."

Saitama blinked and looked at him.

"You can? For real?"

"Yes. With the battery I have left, my reactors could make me fly for twenty minutes approximately. Doctor Kuseno is trying to make my battery last longer for my next upgrade."

"Cool! You're one hell of a multifunction dude!"

Genos' core whirred in anticipation as he swam towards his teacher and pulled him closer with an arm around his waist. Saitama's firm body was pressed against his own. Genos shivered but regained his composure and activated his shoulders' reactors.

"Sensei." he said against the top of his bald head. "Hold on tight."

And in an explosion of water and steam, they took off the sea and rose so high and so fast the brushed against some vaporous clouds in the blue sky. At this altitude, the coast of D and Z cities looked just like a miniature layout.

"The view is great up there!" Saitama commented, holding his disciple's arm with a hand, and raising the other one to shield his eyes from the sun.

Genos narrowed his eyes and tilted his reactors to cut through the air and fly straight toward the shoreline. Bang's second advice ended up as a failure too. Fishing didn't raise in Saitama a new passion and could never replace in his heart the exaltation of a real fight.

Nothing ever could, Genos understood at last. And now, he had no idea left and didn't know what to do anymore.

He was way too busy thinking and brooding to realize Saitama was beaming and had blown up in a few minutes his daily smiles statistics.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note:** This chapter is a bit short, but I hope you'll like it! The story will be over soon. And I had a LOT of fun writing the next two chapters, you'll see… :p

pUlpo801: Gracias! I understand a little bit of spanish but I will answer in english if that's okay? I'm really not good enough to write anything in spanish. Thank you for your kind words, and yes, it's just a 10 chapters story! Sorry! I don't know if I'll write a sequel (I have many other fics to write and not as much free time I wish I had), but I'm thinking about it. I don't want to make promises I can't keep, though.

loser by choice: I can't reply through the site, so I'll do it there! :D Thank you so much for your review, it made my day! I'm glad you think my translation is good!

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Genos opened his hand and exploded the rock just on time. It came close. Just one thousandth of a second earlier, it would have crushed him into the ground. Thrown back by the air blast of the explosion, Genos whirled in the wind and landed hard on the cracked concrete.

What was left of the volcanic rock rained around him. Ashes darkened his blond hair. The cyborg clenched his jaw and got up immediately in a defensive position. The Association severely underestimated the level of threat when this new monster appeared in N city. A and B class heroes in charge of this district had been struck down like fly specks, and Genos had to answer the Association's urgent call for back up and leave his sensei behind as they were going round the sales.

He looked up at the large-scale monster, narrowing his golden eyes as he tried to analyze it and find a weak spot. The volcano was about a hundred meters tall, even though it was situated right in the city center. On the hillside, houses and buildings slowly disappeared, drowned into the molten lava flow. According to what he had been told on the phone before he came, the volcano grew one hour ago in this peaceful seaside city that until now never had any monsters invasions. The volcano gulped down the city hall and kept on growing while the C class heroes evacuated the citizens from the area.

Through the black smoke and eruptions, Genos could see a hydra entirely made of lava bathing in the crater on top. It's nine long necks waved, and the monstrous heads hissed like cats.

The ground trembled, and Genos jumped to dodge another volcanic rocks bombing. His sleeveless shirt flapped in the infernal air blast. He noted an average temperature of 140°F for all the area around the hydra. And according to his analytical sight, the creature's body itself raised up approximately to 5400°F. The cyborg activated his reactors to hold himself at a high altitude. From up here, he had a clear view of the furious hydra. He was about to attack when a voice called out from the ground:

"Hey, Genos! Cover us!"

He looked down and saw Metal Bat and Silver Fang climbing up very quickly the burning volcano – finally, some other S class heroes joined him. Immediately, Genos opened his hand and threw fire shots to destroy the rocks before they hit the heroes. The old martial arts expert jumped in the air, just in front of one of the heads – even with his artificially enhanced sight, Genos barely could see Bang moving like water and punching the monster right in the eye. That head exploded in a thousand lava splatters just when Metal Bat hit hard another head that exploded too.

Genos fell back next to them. Bang was staring at the hydra with a worried and serious face. As for Metal Bat…

"Ow ow ow! Too fucking hot!"

… he was frantically switching his bat from one hand to another and pulling a face – the metal was white-hot, and Genos was surprised it didn't melt when it touched the monster.

"Seven heads left to destroy." Genos said, closing his fist determinedly. "Let's finish it off."

"Yeah, and quickly! I feel like I'm in a sauna, I'm dripping with sweat!"

"I'm afraid it will be a bit more complicated than we thought, young men…" Bang mumbled, narrowing his eyes. "Look."

The monster's blazing body was shining like a sun, bathing in fire. And it's two ripped off heads were growing back on top of the necks, looking even more fierce and aggressive.

"Shit!" Metal Bat snarled, grasping tightly his bat despite the heat.

The nine heads hissed furiously and then belched out a blazing inferno right at them. They dodged, and a new eruption poured a flood of lava down the volcano, drowning the empty streets. The three heroes landed on the roof of a nearby building.

"If we don't stop it right now, the whole city will be drowned in lava." Genos said as the volcano grew bigger and bigger. "And it's becoming stronger each time it gains ground."

"Yeah." Metal Bat breathed, wiping his sweaty brow. "But what are we gonna do if the heads keep growing back?"

"We have to join our forces." Silver Fang said, rolling up his sleeves. "The three of us have to attack it at the same time."

They shared a look to agree, and jumped at the same time to attack together in a massive explosion. But as the smoke cleared away, they saw the nine severed heads growing back immediately. Genos clenched his jaw, frustrated – His blast were made of fire and very high temperatures, but it had no effect on that monster that easily bathed in 5400°F molten lava. He did destroy a huge chunk of the volcano, but lava flows hardened and fixed it right away.

Genos took his phone, wondering if he should ask the Association for back up, or if it would be better to just call Saitama so it would be over quickly and the city wouldn't be entirely destroyed. But then a high-pitched voice yelled:

"Don't tell me it's that thing over there that's making the HQ's big shots all panicked?"

The cyborg looked up to see Tatsumaki floating in the air, her green curls rippling around her small head. She sighed with disdain, rolling her eyes.

"They wanted to raise the threat level from Demon to Dragon. Obviously, they were overreacting. And to think that I made the effort to come here for _that_. Pff."

"Instead of sulking, what about you helped us?" Bang sternly suggested, standing on top of an electric pole.

Bathed in her aura, Tatsumaki folded her arms and pouted.

"Alright, alright, I get it! It's not my fault if you're all so lame you can't do anything on your own!"

At this moment, the hydra aggressively hissed. An eruption of lava made Metal Bat pull a face – he was already beat red and panting because of the heat. Without flinching, Tatsumaki frowned to focus. And then, the lava monster levitated slowly out from the volcano, tossing and hissing. Just a flick of fingers, and Tatsumaki made a rather artistic bow with the nine long necks. And when she snapped her fingers, yawning ostensibly. The flaming hydra screamed as it was thrown right into the ocean with a gigantic splash. From the rough of the building, Genos saw the monster struggling until it's body petrified as the lava cooled down.

"Done!" Tastumaki sounded uppity, dusting her dress. "You know, sometimes I think the Association would be worthless without me!"

"Genos."

The cyborg looked at Bang who joined him on the top of the roof.

"I noticed you seemed distracted during the fight. You mind isn't here."

Genos couldn't deny it. Because it was true. He had been very reluctant to leave Saitama alone and come and do his duty. He asked his teacher if he wanted to come, but Saitama declined because he'd rather go round the sales and was too lazy to run to N city. Given that he had lost the taste of fighting, it wasn't very surprising – and that only made Genos worry even more.

"I'm worried about Saitama-sensei." he confessed, lowering his head.

"Oooh, so that was it…" Bang mumbled, stroking his chin knowingly. "Did you try what I told you to do?"

"Hey! Grandpa and robot! Did you hear what I said?!"

Genos sighed, looking at the volcano that progressively shrank into the ground now that the monster was dead.

"It didn't work. Nothing does. I guess I'm not good enough a disciple…"

Metal Bat waved at them to let them know he was leaving, apologizing to his sister on the phone because he couldn't be on time to help her with her homework as he promised he would.

"Mhhh, I see. This is a problem." Bang nodded gravely.

"Could you stop ignoring me for once?!" Tatsumaki yelled, frantically waving her arms.

Genos was just about to complain to the old man about his failures, when the tiny hero landed just between them. She glared at them, looking murderous.

" _Enough_! I demand you include me in your conversations from now on! Next time anyone ignores me, I throw them into orbit! And you know I'm capable of it!"

Genos frowned, annoyed by the interruption, but he remembered his last altercation with Tatsumaki and that held him back. All the more since he wouldn't survive long in orbit, he needed oxygen for his brain.

"Easy now, Tornado of Terror." Silver Fang frowned. "Remember you represent the Heroes Association, so behave with dignity."

Tatsumaki shrugged, obviously still upset.

"So?" she lifted her chin to stare at the suspiciously. "What were you talking about that was sooooo important?"

"Genos is concerned about his teacher who's showing signs of depression."

"His teacher? What teacher?"

"Saitama-kun."

Tatsumaki blinked in disbelief, then burst out laughing.

"That B class caped bald moron who sneaked into our reunion last time? Is this some kind of a joke?"

She was mocking his teacher. Genos saw red.

"Genos, wait! Don't forget she's much stronger than what she looks like!"

"What do you mean, _what she looks like_? What do I look like, huh?!" the tiny heroine took offense.

"She disrespected Saitama-sensei." Genos hissed harshly, but managed to calm down.

Good thing Saitama wasn't here to hear those hurtful words. His core vibrating furiously, the cyborg tried to reason himself. He folded his arms and glared at the midget.

"Ah, wait!" Tatsumaki opened her eyes wide. "Don't tell me it's for _him_ you turned down the apartment in the HQ? Is that why you asked at the last reunion if it's allowed to share it with a B class?"

Warily, Genos pinched his lips and nodded.

"You're so weird." she pouted disapprovingly. "I took the apartment, it's great. You're missing out."

"I don't care. I won't leave Saitama-sensei all alone when he's feeling down."

"And what's his opinion about it?"

Genos blinked and shared a confused look with Bang.

"What?"

Tatsumaki rolled her eyes with contempt, looking irritated.

"Your baldy, duh! Did you two talk about it, at least?"

Genos paused, his face freezing in a bewildered expression.

"No… I… never considered it."

"That's the first thing to do for helping someone, are you stupid or what?"

Genos was so shocked by this revelation that he didn't hear the insult. He didn't even feel Bang's hand patting his shoulder.

Annoyed, Tatsumaki sighed and raised her hands cynically.

"You know what? I've no idea why I bother talking with you. Your conversations are so boring. I'm out of here."

And in a split second, the little heroine took off and flew away in the horizon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note:** Translating is fun but so much time-consuming! Not sure I'll do that again any time soon. Hope you're enjoying it though! ^^

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Genos hadn't felt that nervous for a long time. Probably since the day he gathered his courage, butterflies in his artificial stomach, and knocked on Saitama-sensei's door to ask him to take him as his disciple. That was almost seven months ago, but the cyborg never dreaded speaking his mind to his teacher before.

Even if he came back walking from N city after the lava hydra was defeated – and he walked very slowly because he was deep in thoughts – he still didn't find out how to sum up his problem in less that twenty words. Until now, his best attempts were 28 words long and he couldn't make it shorter.

Tatsumaki and Bang's wise words echoed in a continuous loop in his mind. The old man too encouraged him to be honest and blunt with Saitama.

Genos took his decision. He closed his fists, his face hard with determination, and walked faster.

The sun was starting to dive behind the buildings when he entered Z city. People in the streets became scarce, and disappeared totally as he walked into that deserted and destroyed area. It was pitch black when his foot walked in a puddle. And there had been no rain for days.

Genos sharpened his senses and looked down. His night vision confirmed it was not water. It was a black and thick fluid. He narrowed his golden eyes and crouched to touch the liquid with the tip of his fingers – it was sticky and smelled very bad.

Some sort of organic oily fluid.

He scanned the ground all around. There was other puddles, and human footprints heading straight to Genos and his teacher's neighborhood. He flinched and stood up abruptly when he recognized that foot size and exact print of shoes – those were Saitama-sensei's sneakers. The same ones he saw him put on this morning, when they left to go round the sales in C city. And judging by the space between the steps, it definitely was his teacher's running stride.

"Sensei…!" Genos breathed, worried sick, and then rushed as fast as he could to follow the footsteps.

No doubt here, they were heading to their apartment.

Did Saitama-sensei have troubles when he was away? Genos had to leave to answer the HQ's urgent call about N city's volcano monster. Saitama had seemed very determined to rummage frantically into sales clothes next to hysterical women, so Genos didn't worry too much about leaving him alone.

The footprints faded as he came near their apartment. They were just dirty marks when he leaped up the stairs, his eyes flashing in the dark. He rushed so brutally into the apartment he almost ripped the door off it's hinges.

"SENSEI!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Ah, Genos."

Hand still gripping the door handle, Genos blinked when he saw his teacher bent above the sink, elbows deep into foamy water. Bare-chested, Saitama glanced at him dispassionately above his shoulder.

"Why did ya scream like that?" Saitama sighed, focusing back on whatever he was doing. "You scared me."

Feeling better, Genos carefully closed the door and came closer to his teacher. Frowning, the hero was scrubbing energetically what seemed to be his hoodie soaked into the sink. The water was almost black and there was more and more bubbles as he clenched his jaw and scrubbed harder.

"I saw your footprints on the street." Genos briefly explained. "What happened, sensei?"

Saitama grabbed the soaked and foamy cloth and took it out of the water to show him, looking discouraged. It was indeed his OPPAI hoodie he was wearing this morning when they left the apartment. And dark stains soiled half the cloth.

"After you left, some sort of giant spider with lipstick showed up and started devastating the mall and stealing stuff. It stole everything I bought, so I ran after it before it could flee, and kicked its ass. Except it mucked up my hoodie, my jeans and my shoes with it's blood. I've been scrubbing for hours, but it won't disappear! It was my favorite hoodie, for fuck's sake!"

Clicking his tongue angrily, Saitama plunged back the hoodie into the foaming water.

"I couldn't even get back the stuff I bought. That fucking spider swallowed it all and it was already dissolved by its gastric juices when I punched it dead. Shit, I had bought so many great and cheap stuff! Fuck it!"

His anger was thick in the air. Genos felt a pang of remorse for not having been there to help him. He should have come back faster to his teacher, instead of dreaming on the way back.

"I'm sorry, sensei. If I had been with you, I would have done everyting in my power to protect your purchases and your clothes."

Oddly enough, Saitama relaxed. His movements became softer, and his facial expression more serene.

"Meh, it' no big deal."

"Hold on, sensei, let me do it. To make those kind of stains go away, soap is not enough."

Saitama blinked and glanced at him, but moved away to let the cyborg take his place. Genos pulled out a special stain remover and liquid detergent from under the sink. Watching his disciple proceed, Saitama wiped his hands and crossed his arms on his bare torso, leaning a shoulder against the wall. He looked thoughtful now, Genos noticed from the corner of his eye as he poured the liquid on the black stains.

"But you know what was the worst part?" Saitama said, stroking his chin. "That giant fugly spider was a former sales addict like me. She loved special offers so much she started killing people who bought what she wanted and she turned into a monster. It's scary, y'know? I could become like this too if I'm not careful!"

Genos scrubbed the cloth in the water.

"You are indeed fierce when you go round the sales. It reveals your fighting spirit in all its splendor."

Genos always watched in rapt attention, holding his teacher's bags as Saitama quarreled with anyone who dared trying to take the items he was interested in, and it wasn't rare that he snatched clothes from a woman's hands and was beaten with a handbag in retaliation.

"Ah, you think so too!"

"… but you will never turn into a monster." Genos said softly as he washed the foam from the hoodie. "You are a true hero at soul, and I know better than anyone how good and pure your heart is. Here, the stains are gone now."

Saitama was staring at him with a weird look in his eyes, but it shifted to surprise when the cyborg showed him the soaked hoodie that was perfectly stainless. Genos started drying it, using his palm reactors.

"Whoa! You rock, Genos!"

Flattered, Genos couldn't help smiling proudly as he handed the clean and dry hoodie to his teacher who slipped it on right away.

"By the way, how did it go with that monster in N city? You beat it off?"

As he was talking, Saitama turned on his heels and walked into the living room, probably heading to go watch tv or read a manga. Genos frowned and a spike of anxiety made his core whir when he remembered the decision he took.

"In fact, Tatsumaki did." he summed up. "Saitama-sensei, I have something important to tell you."

Saitama stilled and looked down at the metallic hand that grabbed his sleeve to stop him.

"Er… ok." Saitama said flatly, frowning confusedly.

"Please sit down." Genos asked sternly, pointing at the table.

Saitama blinked and tried to smile, but it came off as grimace. He looked uncomfortable.

"What's with the formal tone, all of a sudden?"

"If you please, sensei." Genos insisted, already sitting in seiza. "It's really important and I would like you to promise you will listen to me and not get angry or offended by anything I might say."

Saitama rolled his eyes but sat down in seiza, looking resigned.

"I'm warning you, if it's about my hair _again_ , I…"

"It's not." Genos interrupted, narrowing his golden eyes. "It's something I should have told you a long time ago, but I only realized it recently. I didn't want to tell you about it and embarrass you, so I concealed what I felt. But I think now it's important that I tell you, that I let you know. Don't worry, I will try not to be too long."

"It's… not exactly what I'm concerned about right now…" Saitama mumbled, looking away.

"I will start now." Genos announced, fists clenched on his knees to give him courage.

He stared intently at his teacher until he finally looked back at him.

"Sensei. You certainly know how much I admire you since the day I met you. Becoming your disciple made me realize you're so much more than your strength. You've become the most important person in my life. I only wish for your happiness, more than anything in the world, and I realized a few weeks ago…"

"Ok." Saitama groaned, elbows on the table, looking haggard. "I think I know what you're going to say. I kinda suspected, to be honest."

Saitama had facepalmed himself, but Genos could still see between the fingers that Saitama's whole face was blushing. His bald head was shining, reflecting the ceiling's lamp.

"Let's get over with it, Genos. Spit it out."

Genos hesitated and looked down at his knees.

"You swear you won't be angry with me?"

"I won't be angry at you for something you can't help feeling. I swear."

That answer made no sense. Genos felt confused for a second, but he looked up bravely and met Saitama's gaze. His teacher looked nervous and uncomfortable, a drop of sweat sliding down his temple. Genos took a deep breath.

"I realized you're suffering from depression since you lost hope in finding a worthy opponent. I've done everything in my power to help you find a new reason for living, but I failed. I'm addressing the matter to you directly as a last resort. I don't know what to do anymore and I can't stand knowing that Saitama-sensei is unhappy."

"…"

Saitama was staring at him with his eyes wide open, taken aback. Genos bowed respectfully and added:

"That was a lot more than twenty words, I am aware. Please accept my deepest apologies, Saitama-sensei."

"Ah, no…" Saitama limply raised a hand. "I get it now. That explains everything. How weird you acted lately and the creepy way you stared at me all the time, even when I was sleeping…"

Embarrassed, Genos swallowed – so Saitama-sensei noticed when he was watching him at night, thinking about new ideas to make him happy? He was so sure he had been discreet, and his teacher seemed like he was in deep sleep.

"I was starting to wonder about you." Saitama shrugged.

Genos looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry you worried about me, sensei. I should have told you sooner what I had in mind."

"I should be the one apologizing, Genos. I got it all wrong. I really thought that you, that you were… er…"

Puzzled, Genos blinked when Saitama looked away and cleared his throat.

"Sensei?"

"I kinda thought you were gonna declare your love to me or something like that." Saitama admitted laughing awkwardly, scratching his bald skull. "I imagined things and I panicked for no reason all this time but I was totally wrong about what you wanted. Silly, y'know? I feel like a dumbass now."

Genos stiffened and his eyes widened. If he looked sort of calm and composed on the outside, in the inside the cyborg felt like he had been thrown away by a hurricane.

"…"

"Er, Genos? You're having another bug?"

Saitama's hand waved in front of him, but Genos couldn't move at all. His golden eyes and retracted pupils were staring at his teacher's now concerned face.

"Genos! Crap, you're burning!"

The cyborg realized his core was overheating so much it was almost melting, and his metallic body was letting out thick burning steam. His sleeveless shirt was catching fire as well as the table touching his arms. He didn't even have enough time to think about activating his cooling fans to regulate his temperature, that Saitama rushed to the kitchen and came back to splash a full bucket of water in his face. Genos finally snapped out of his stupor and blinked.

"Pfwah, that was close. A bit more and the apartment would have been burning too and we'd be homeless."

Dripping wet, Genos looked at his teacher who was holding the empty bucket.

"Thank you, sensei. I had a little ventilation dysfunction. I feel much better now."

Saitama sighed, shaking his head, then ruffled his disciple's synthetic soaked hair affectionately.

"Come on." Saitama smiled. "Let's go out for udon and talk about it, if you care so much."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note:** This is the last chapter for this short fic, thank y'all for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed it!

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"Ah ok, so that's what it was all about…"

Resting his elbow on the table, and leaning above his bowl, Saitama shoved the udons in his mouth and sucked it up with a loud _slurp._ Then he ungraciously chewed, his cheeks full.

"Shorry you…"

Saitama swallowed and with the tip of his chopsticks he pointed at his disciple.

"… worried about me, Genos. But you didn't need to. I'm fine, I swear."

Looking gloomy, Genos nodded and poked his udons with his chopsticks. In the artificial light of the small diner, steam rose from the tiny kitchen and crawled on the ceiling. The walls were plastered with advertising posters all crinkled because of air humidity. On each one of them, the same starlet posed with a fake smile, in bikini or in a uniform wearing the colors of this restaurant chain.

Probably because of monsters attacks and meteorites falling from the sky, the diner was in a basement. It was so cramped and confined that the tables and chairs were greasy. Some other clients were here: an old man mumbling in his gyudon bowl an two mafia-style sinister looking men in a corner talked in a low voice.

"You're not hungry? You still haven't touched your udon…" Saitama said, looking disappointed. "I'm inviting you…"

"Sorry, Saitama-sensei." Genos sighed and finally divided his chopsticks. "I'll eat now."

He had been explaining for the last ten minutes everything he tried to do in order to make his teacher smile again, while Saitama was eating and listening patiently.

"There's no use in lying to me now, sensei…" Genos said, warm udon grazing his lips. "You don't have to hide it anymore. I know you're not fine. I know you're suffering. And I want to help you."

While Genos gulped down the udons in one go, Saitama let out a deep sigh, leaning back in his chair. Genos wiped his mouth with his napkin and activated his stomach reactor, burning to ashes everything he just swallowed.

"Oh, don't be overdramatic." Saitama drawled in a phlegmatic tone. "I admit I've been kinda feeling blue after that disappointing fight against the alien dude. But it was nothing worth worrying over that much."

"You stayed in your pajamas for a whole week without going outside, sensei. You looked sad. I was worried."

The cyborg's voice was so stern, Saitama blinked and looked sheepish.

"Did I…? I didn't realize. It's true that I've thought for years of fighting as my only reason for living. It really was the one thing that made me feel alive."

Genos darkened even more, feeling useless and powerless.

Saitama put his hand in his pocket – his jeans were still stained with black blood smelling like oil and Genos reminded himself he would have to clean it when they get back home – and took out his wallet to count the yen coins. He put them on the table one by one next to their empty bowls, until the total amount was there.

"But things are different now." Saitama concluded soberly, and stood up.

Confused, Genos got up from the table and followed his teacher who was leaving the diner. The strong voice of the manager automatically rose to thank them, and the two heroes walked out. It was night. They walked side by side to head back home, and Genos stared at his teacher from the corner of his eye – Saitama looked relaxed, hands in his pockets and a smile on his lips.

Why was he smiling?

"I don't understand, sensei. What is different?"

They walked near a vending machine. It was whirring and flashing light in Saitama's neutral face.

"I ain't gonna lie to you. I miss the ecstasy of a good fight and I would give anything to fight with all my strength against someone strong enough to _really_ put me in danger, but… I've got other things in my life, now. Other things that make me feel alive."

Genos raised his eyebrows, startled.

"What other things? I've been watching you closely and analyzing everything you do 24h/24 for months, sensei." the cyborg pointed out in a doubtful tone. "And I've seen nothing like that since I've been living with you."

"Well…"

Saitama was avoiding his stare, Genos noticed. As they walked in the empty street, he was looking at the stars in the night sky, hands deep in his pockets.

"… I joined the Association, for a start. And even if I've got no fans, it gives me something to look forward to, and a permanent job. And above all, there's you, Genos. Since you've been living with me, I'm not bored anymore and sometimes I catch myself enjoying life, feeling alive, and even feeling emotions again."

"Sensei…?" the cyborg breathed, eyes wide open.

"Different emotions than what I used to feel in a good fight," Saitama specified, shrugging. "Less intense, less strong, more serene. But still emotions. I think I haven't feel so good since… I dunno. Maybe forever."

Speechless, Genos felt his core whir loudly in his torso and myriads of emotions overwhelm him. Did he hear right? Could it be that the answer he had been looking for so desperately… was _him_?

"Saitama-sensei, are you saying that… I'm your new reason for living?"

"Erm no, don't get all worked up, it ain't what I meant." Saitama pulled a face. "What I'm saying is… I've been alone all my life, I always felt detached from everyone else… and since you've been living with me, I see you every day, you help me interact with people and try new things… it's the first time I feel truly connected to someone. And I dunno… it's nice. I don't feel lonely anymore. I feel human."

Genos felt dark oil fill up his eyes and he had to fought the tears back – Saitama-sensei didn't like watching him cry. For once, the cyborg had no idea what to say, he was speechless and suffocating with feelings. He wasn't even aware he slowed his pace and his teacher was now a few meters ahead. He saw him crouch down to reach for a black cat crossing the street, its tail curved like a question mark.

The cat sniffed his hand with curiosity and mistrust, then licked the palm with a pink tongue. Saitama's smile turned sad. He tried to pet the cat's head, but it avoided the caress and ran away.

"But I know I can't get used to it…" Saitama continued, looking at the cat jumping on the nearest wall to perch. "Because when you'll figure out I've got nothing to teach you, when you'll be strong enough to defeat your enemy and complete your revenge…"

Saitama got up, turning his back on his disciple.

"You won't have any reason left to stay with me. You'll move on and go away."

"YOU'RE WRONG!"

Saitama turned around to face him with a weak smile.

"It wasn't a reproach, Genos. You'll leave someday, that's normal. I'm prepared to it. Or course you're not gonna stay with me all your life…"

"Why not?" Genos answered back ardently, his golden eyes flashing in the dark.

Saitama blinked. He was looking at him like if he was a temperamental child, and the cyborg took offense. He closed his fists with a clicking sound.

"You don't know what you're saying." Saitama sighed. "You're young, you're ambitious and you're destined for great things. You're just having some kind of obsession for the secret of my strength at the moment, but you'll move on sooner or later."

Perched on top of the wall, the cat yawned widely and wrapped itself with its fluffy tail, staring down at them.

"It's true that at first I followed you and wanted to become your disciple for your amazing strength…" Genos hissed through his teeth. "But you're so mistaken about me if you think it's still the case today."

Saitama arched a surprised eyebrow when Genos walked towards him, his anger a burning aura around him.

"I'm not stupid, Saitama-sensei."

"I never said you were, but…" Saitama tried to protest.

Saitama flinched when he firmly grabbed his shoulders, his metallic fingers digging into the hoodie's fabric. Dumbstruck, he held his disciple's intense stare.

"I'm perfectly aware I'll never get your strength, sensei! Do you really think I'd have stayed with you if that was all I cared about?"

"Er…"

"Saitama-sensei. You have probably no idea, but if doctor Kuseno is trying so hard to build me a body allowing me to live like a human, it's because I became worse than a machine after my parents died. All I could think about was revenge and my obsession was progressively destroying everything human that was left in me. I had only one objective: to find the mad cyborg and kill him, exploding myself for this if necessary. Before I met you, I never once considered I could live after I fulfilled my revenge. I considered myself dead already, just surviving long enough to avenge my parents. But now, I know revenge won't be the end, but the beginning of a new life I intend to spend by your side. I'll stay with you forever, Saitama-sensei, be sure of it. You're the most important person in the world to me, and what I feel for you is way too strong to be dismissed because of my age."

Gaping, Saitama stared at the cyborg with wide stunned eyes. Genos realized he came closer to him in his passionate speech, so close he could feel his teacher's warm breath ghosting his synthetic lips.

Saitama blinked and swallowed hard, not even trying to break free from his disciple's grip. Instead, he frowned, looking confused and distraught.

"Genos…"

The cyborg shivered when Saitama put his hand of the metallic fingers gripping his shoulder and squinted suspiciously.

"Are you sure you're not in love with me?"

Genos opened his eyes wide, his pupils retracting, and he released him to take a few steps back hastily, as if he had been punched violently. Arms dangling, Saitama kept staring at him, looking incredulous and curious. Genos looked down, bewildered. He hadn't anticipated this question.

Before Saitama-sensei mentioned the possibility of romantic feelings an hour ago in the apartment, Genos would never have considered… he would never have thought about… about…

But when they were walking to the diner, as he was explaining to the hero everything he did for him, he couldn't help thinking, in a corner of his mind, that maybe that was what he was really feeling for Saitama. No just loyalty, gratitude and admiration, not just affection and attachment like he used to feel for his parents before they died. But something more… intimate. Profound.

He could feel Saitama staring at him, waiting for an answer. So he straightened his back, trying to look as assured and adult as he could, staring back at him bravely.

"Maybe."

"Heh? Maybe?"

Genos nodded seriously.

"I'm not sure. I'm not an expert in that area since I've never been in love before. I'll need to do some research to confirm it."

Saitama's shoulders sagged and he lowered his head, darkness veiling his face. Genos blinked when his teacher made a strange sound, and… burst out laughing. He threw his head back and laughed so hard and loud it resounded in the night and a tiny tear shone at the corner of his eye.

Genos froze, eyes wide open. That was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his whole life.

"It's not amusing, sensei…" he tried to protest, but didn't mean it. He couldn't help smiling too.

"Yes, it is!" Saitama laughed wholeheartedly. "You're amazing, Genos!"

He stopped laughing, but there was still a smile lighting up his face. Genos felt his anxiety fade away and steam rise from his metallic torso.

"Wouldn't it bother you if I happen to feel… this kind of feelings for you?" He asked, lowering his eyes shyly.

Saitama casually shrugged, then put his arm on the cyborg's shoulders and warmly squeezed the metallic plate covering one of his reactors.

"Nah, I don't mind. It's kinda funny, in fact."

"Funny?" Genos repeated, blinking.

"Well yeah… You've got a crush on me, the shame!"

Genos pouted when Saitama poked his cheek, grinning like a lunatic. His core started overheating again.

"Sensei…"

"Hey, you think you'll lose your fans if they learn that their Cyborg Prince has a crush on a B class hero?"

"Sensei!"

"Ok, ok, I'll stop now! Come on, let's go home. I'm gonna kick your ass in video games."

Saitama affectionately patted him on the shoulder, then released him to start walking, looking in a very good mood. Genos stayed still a few seconds, watching him walk as a powerful emotion grew in heart substitut. When his teacher turned back to motion him to come, Genos ran to join him and walk by his side.

Curled up in a ball, the black cat lazily opened its eyes to watch the two figures walk away in the street, until they disappeared in the night with their laughters.

 **THE END**


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